Old Montreal in Montréal, Québec — Central Canada (French-Canadian)

Parc Fleury-Mesplet

Fleury Mesplet (1734-1794)

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 21, 2024

1. Parc Fleury-Mesplet Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

[Français] Imprimeur lyonnais. Arrivé à Montréal avec Benjamin Franklin sous l'occupation américaine, il publie en 1778 le premier journal montréalais nommé la Gazette du commerce et littéraire, qui deviendra le quotidien anglophone The Gazette.

[English] Lyon printer. Arrived in Montreal with Benjamin Franklin during the American occupation, he published in 1778 the first Montreal newspaper called the Gazette of Commerce and Literature, which would become the English-language daily The Gazette.

Erected by Ville-Marie, Montreal.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Communications • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1778.

Location. 45° 30.653′ N, 73° 33.022′ W. Marker is in Montreal, Québec, in Montréal. It is in Old Montreal. It is on Rue de la Commune Est just south of Rue Berri, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Montreal QC H2Y 3V1, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Greater Montréal.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker

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: Jean Barbot dit Boisdoré Lived Here in 1712 (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Cartier Residences (about 120 meters away); First Transcontinental Train (about 120 meters away); Sir William Johnson (about 150 meters away); Palais de L'intendance / Intendance Palace (about 150 meters away); Autour de la Craig (about 150 meters away); Joseph Papineau (about 180 meters away); Immeuble de l'association des débardeurs / Building of the Longshoremen Association (about 210 meters away).

Also see . . .
1. Fleury Mesplet (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: French-born Canadian printer best known for founding the Montreal Gazette, Quebec's oldest daily newspaper, in 1778. Mesplet was born in Marseille, France, and was apprenticed as a printer in Lyon. He emigrated to London in 1773 where he set up shop in Covent Garden. In 1774 he emigrated to Philadelphia; it is thought that he may have been persuaded to do so by Benjamin Franklin. In Philadelphia he again went into business as a printer, but received little work; he printed the Lettre adressée aux habitants de la province de Québec, ci-devant le Canada (Letter to the Inhabitants of Canada) for the Continental Congress in 1775, and travelled to Montreal the following year to set
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 21, 2024

2. Parc Fleury-Mesplet Marker
Looking south along Rue de la Commune Est.
up a printing press in the newly captured city. In 1778 he founded the Gazette Littéraire de Montréal, edited by Valentin Jautard. In 1785, he published La Gazette de Montréal, now the Montreal Gazette. In total, he published some seventy or eighty works, in French, English, Latin, and Iroquois; ten of these ran to more than a hundred pages, and another seven were almanacs.

(Submitted on May 17, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Montreal Gazette (Wikipedia).

Excerpt: The Gazette, also known as the Montreal Gazette, is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspaper currently published in Montreal. Founded in 1778 by Fleury Mesplet, The Gazette is Quebec's oldest daily newspaper and the oldest continuously published newspaper in Canada.

(Submitted on May 17, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 17, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 12, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 17, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.