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Early plans called for this station to be located in Place d'Armes itself at rue Saint-Jacques, but this was impossible due to the poor quality of the soils there.
This station was originally intended to be the southern terminus of line 2. Although the plans were extended to Bonaventure well before the metro was completed, due to the construction of the Place Bonaventure complex, nonetheless this station was the first temporary southern terminus of the orange line for four months, until Bonaventure and Square-Victoria were ready to be opened.
Unlike other downtown stations which had temporary kiosks that were demolished to make room for buildings occupying their air rights, this station originally had a kiosk (left) that was originally meant to be permanent, but was demolished anyway to make room for the Palais des Congrès.
Barely eight years after the system's inauguration, this station welcomed the metro's one-billionth passenger, Ms. Anne Boutin of Longueuil, who went through this station's turnstiles at 5:05 PM on November 4, 1974 (right).
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Place d'Armes.
The current Place d'Armes is actually the third location in Montreal to bear that name, an old French term for a place where a city's defenders assemble. The statue in Montreal's Place d'Armes specifically commemorates Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve's defence of the young French settlement against the Iroquois, against whom Sieur de Maisonneuve's allies the Hurons were fighting to regain land the Iroquois had conquered. Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica stands on Place d'Armes, which was formerly the city's main streetcar junction.
