Allan Building, Montreal

On April 15, 1912, the Allan Company’s steamship Virginian picked up the Titanic’s first distress signal and wired the Montreal head office for permission to alter course to go to the ship's rescue. This is where the message that the Titanic had hit an iceberg and was sinking was received in Montreal. The information was immediately passed on to the marine reporter of The Gazette – the first newspaper in the world to learn of the disaster.

The offices of the shipping company were housed in this building until 1941, with some rooms being rented to various companies and organizations until the sale in 1978. In 1981 the Department of Public Works took possession and remained the owner until 2009, when the Society of the Old Port of Montreal took over ownership. Out in front is a statue of John Young, 1st Chairman of the Port Commission, responsible for enlarging and developing the port. His efforts were so important that after his death in 1878, he was considered to be the "father" of the port. A figure of Neptune, symbolically representing the Saint Lawrence River, sits at the base of the monument.