Amable Morin’s warehouse shed

A merchant with ambition!

Amable Morin’s orchard produced a large amount of fruit that had to be kept cool before being shipped by schooner to markets in and around Quebec City. Morin also fished eel and other varieties of fish. He needed space to store the merchandise he sold in his general store.

Shortly after building his house, Amable Morin commissioned the construction of a huge two-storey shed near the river on the other side of the road. In the centre of the building, you can see a skylight with a hoist. This ingenious system was used to hoist merchandise to the second floor.

Interestingly, Amable Morin built a holding area for his eels and perhaps other species of fish in his shed. He dug a ditch from the river to beneath the building, where he made a basin for his eels. The basin would fill with water and he would put in his catch, which remained alive. When a customer wanted to buy something, he opened a trapdoor in the floor of the shed just above the holding area and brought up the fish, which was always fresh. Talk about ingenious!