A Wonderful Memory
![Black and white photograph of an old arch bridge connecting Sainte-Rose to Bélair. At the bottom of the photograph are the handwritten inscriptions “Pont Plessis-Bélair” [Plessis Bélair Bridge] on the left and “St-Rose” on the right.](https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/laval-economie-diversifiee_economic-diversification/wp-content/uploads/sites/99/2019/09/C1_K_04.jpg)
Postal Card of Plessis Bélair Bridge, Sainte-Rose, 1943.
Reference: Société d’histoire et de généalogie de l’Île Jésus, C1/K, 04
The wooden Plessis Bélair Bridge was built in 1854. It connected Sainte-Rose to Bélair Island, in Rosemère. It was a toll bridge. In the early 19th century, vacationers found the old wooden bridge, which was a little crooked and twisted, “picturesque.”
The provincial government wanted the bridge to be public and free. In 1940, it expropriated the bridge and became the owner, but the toll was only abolished two years later. It was replaced by the current Marius-Dufresne Bridge, which opened in 1946.