The history of Mississauga's Montreal House, Streetsville’s oldest surviving building

Modern Mississauga and Heritage Mississauga have come together to present an ongoing series called “Way Back Wednesday”
We’ll share information about the history of Mississauga here and answer your questions.

Today’s topic is the history of Mississauga’s Montreal House.

The “Montreal House” is Streetsville’s oldest surviving building, and the oldest commercial building in all of Mississauga. Built circa 1821 by John Barnhart (1790-1863), the Montreal House was home to Barnhart’s trading post and general store. Barnhart’s son, Jabez, started a newspaper upstairs in 1843, which became the Streetsville Review when Solomon J. Barnhart, Jabez’s brother, took over publication in 1846. The first telephone exchange in Streetsville operated here as well. But what’s in a name? The building was called the Montreal House in reference to the place of origin for the goods that were available for purchase or barter here in 1820s – namely, they came out of the port of Montreal and as such the name of the building was an advertisement for imported goods. The Montreal House remains in active commercial use today, and is a historic landmark in Streetsville.