A new medical center. That’s what they’re building on Rue du Bois. Rue du Bois in Lille. It’s a street with a history though few know it.
Rue du Bois sits within the Bois-Blancs district. This area was once outside Lille’s 19th-century fortifications. It’s a relatively young neighborhood. Many of its residents are under 25 years old. The Deûle River significantly shapes the district. It divides Bois-Blancs into sections. These are connected by several bridges.
Centuries ago the Deûle’s course was different. The Fourchon another branch of the river flowed through here. It was important during the Middle Ages. The Fourchon was filled in around 1950. Monks from the Loos Abbey dug ditches here in 1147. They drained the marshland to create farmland. Imagine the transformation. From marshland to the Rue du Bois we see today.
Vauban’s fortifications from 1669-1670 affected Bois-Blancs. A redoubt was built near the Canteleu bridge. A dike protected Lille from sieges. This area once extended far beyond today’s Bois-Blancs. It included parts of Wazemmes.
Industrial development marked the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Le Blan factory arrived in 1876. The Cotonnière Lilloise textile plant followed around 1920. Workers’ housing sprang up along the Quai de l’Ouest. This is where Saint-Charles church was built in 1906. The tower was added in 1933. The area was less developed until the 1870s. The Rue du Bois was likely a small part of that expansion.
The creation of the Lille port in the mid-20th century changed everything. The Fourchon was filled. The port basin transformed the area. Bois-Blancs became an island surrounded by water. Rue du Bois was now a street on an island.
The Le Blan factory eventually closed. It was repurposed into the EuraTechnologies activity center. This center focuses on digital technology. The number of jobs created there has made up for the jobs lost in the textile industry. More are planned. The Rue du Bois continues to change.
Today Rue du Bois represents a mixture of old and new. A new medical center rises. It will stand as a testament to the area’s resilience and adaptation. It is a reflection of the ever evolving Rue du Bois in Lille. A street that tells the story of Lille itself.