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The Atwater Library traces its origins back to 1828, when the first mechanics’ institute established in continental British North America was formed in Montreal. Today, with its official name, Atwater Library and Computer Centre, it is the sole survivor of the many mechanics’ institutes established in Canada in the 19th century. The rest were either closed or merged into public library systems.

The initiator of the Montreal Mechanics’ Institution in 1828 was Rev. Henry Esson, one of Montreal’s intellectual leaders.

Canadian business man and vice-president of the Mechanics Institute

Louis Gugy was the first president of the Montreal Mechanics Institute in 1828.

For several years beginning in the late 1850s, Alexander Cowper Hutchison taught architectural drawing at the Institute. The son of a Scottish-born stonemason, A.C. Hutchison had himself taken mechanical drawing at the Institute, and went on to become one of Montreal’s leading architects. He was involved in the design and construction of major buildings in Montreal, including the Redpath Museum, Erskine and American United Church and the old La Presse building. His firm, Hutchison, Wood and Miller, would later design the current Atwater Library building.