Historical Winnipeg discussion

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by Andy6

Haha.

No. The people mentioned, having arrived in the city, asked the Free Press to note their arrival so that their friends or business associates would know where to find them. Also, you have to remember that in 1906 Winnipeg was full of tens of thousands of new arrivals from all over Canada and the U.S., as well as Europe. Someone coming to town from almost any town or village in eastern Canada, for example, would know that many former friends and relatives were in Winnipeg, but have no way of knowing exactly who or how to contact them.

Newspapers served a much broader function a century ago -- in fact, even today there are probably still small-town newspapers that have a "Who's Visiting Who" column. The personal column above is partly a "social notes" column as well -- it was news that people (of substance) were visiting Winnipeg. In those days many people never travelled outside their local community in their entire lives.

Thanks!

[JayM]

has anyone actually watched the movie, the assassination of jesse james, or better yet was there when they were filming. i think that was the cleanest i had ever seen that area in regards to garbage and other things known to just waste away on the streets. lol. they did a considerable amoun ot backdrop shooting, and yet there about 30 seconds or something of the city in the movie.

[Andy6]

Still haven't quite got bored with this.

Lots for sale on Pt. Douglas, 1881:



The new Bank of Hamilton is announced, 1916:



Various bank advertisements, 1916:



A familiar refrain, 1962:

[JayM]

Heres a few Ariel shots of Downtown Winnipeg, 1928, 150 and 1998
http://airphotos.nrcan.gc.ca/photos101/winnipeg_e.php

[JayM]

er... 1950 that is

[fengshui]

Just a teaser from the Then and Now section at Manitoba Historical Society page.
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/features/w...ow/index.shtml

Garry Street




Main Street Underpass




Main Street/City Hall





Osborne Street looking south

[rgalston]

The discussion on the Fort Garry site prompted me to look at this map, a rather whimsical look at the Winnipeg of 1872. Things of note:
-The only sidewalks depicted were on the east side from Main from Notre Dame (Pioneer) to Post Office (Lombard) Streets.
-Aside from the dissapearance of Pelly Street and Thistle Lane, the streets shown are generally as they are today. Even the trail leading from Fort Garry to the Forks roughly follows today's Forks Market Rd. The lane running to the river from the northernmost point of Rorie still exists in part, and was the planned atrium from the ill-fated Nygard Village
-#3 and #4, Drever's building and the Red Salloon at Portage and Main. The map shows a slight bottleneck on Portage at Main. One historical account says that the Salloon and part of Drever's building sat in what are now the east-bound lanes of Portage Ave until the early 1880s
-#47, the "old Ross house" is (besides the north gate of Fort Garry) is the only structure that has survived until today. It was moved twice, and is now a museum in Point Douglas
-It's interesting to think, that if both Pelly Street and Portage both lasted, that the two would have crossed at around Smith and Donald Streets, and Winnipeg would have a similar intersection to Manhattan's Broadway and Seventh Ave, which forms Times Square


(Large version here)

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by rgalston

The discussion on the Fort Garry site prompted me to look at this map, a rather whimsical look at the Winnipeg of 1872. Things of note:
-The only sidewalks depicted were on the east side from Main from Notre Dame (Pioneer) to Post Office (Lombard) Streets.
-Aside from the dissapearance of Pelly Street and Thistle Lane, the streets shown are generally as they are today. Even the trail leading from Fort Garry to the Forks roughly follows today's Forks Market Rd. The lane running to the river from the northernmost point of Rorie still exists in part, and was the planned atrium from the ill-fated Nygard Village
-#3 and #4, Drever's building and the Red Salloon at Portage and Main. The map shows a slight bottleneck on Portage at Main. One historical account says that the Salloon and part of Drever's building sat in what are now the east-bound lanes of Portage Ave until the early 1880s
-#47, the "old Ross house" is (besides the north gate of Fort Garry) is the only structure that has survived until today. It was moved twice, and is now a museum in Point Douglas
-It's interesting to think, that if both Pelly Street and Portage both lasted, that the two would have crossed at around Smith and Donald Streets, and Winnipeg would have a similar intersection to Manhattan's Broadway and Seventh Ave, which forms Times Square


(Large version here)

nice map...

[rgalston]

I found something by a Principal Grant of Queen's University in Toronto, who is writing about his visit to Winnipeg in 1881:

"The growth of Winnipeg since 1877 [as it happens, this is my 1,877th post] has been phenomenal. Statistics need not be given, for they are paraded in every newspaper, and so far, the growth of one month--no matter how marvelous that may be--is sure to be eclipsed by the next. The coming and going at the railway station combines the rush of a great city with all the characteristics of immigrant and pioneer life. But instead of entering Winnipeg by railway, it is better to stop on the east side of the river and see the quaint French suburb of St. Boniface, and Archbishop Taché's Cathedral and College.

"We can then cross by the St. Boniface steam-ferry and take a look at the city in a more leisurely way. Even at the landing, the first thing that strikes us is that incongrous blending of the new and old, of barbarism jostling against against civilization, that distinguishes every corner of Winnipeg and every phrase of its life. Specimans of almost extinct savage and semi-savage nationalities gaze at steam-boats and steam-mills and all the appliances of modern life with eyes that dream of far different scenes that were yesterday but have vanished forever.

"In this brand-new city a historical society, a first-rate club, colleges and cathedrals have sprung up, but you find at the land that water is drawn from the river by the time-honoured "hauley system" and sold by the gallon. Here is old Fort Garry, but its glories have departed. Once it was the centre of the Hudson Bay Company's life, and that meant the life of the North-west. Its walls and bastions the veritable 'Quadrilateral' in the eyes of the Indian and half-breed. they ought to have been saved as a memorial of the olden time, but progress is relentless. Progress abolished the walls and gates of Quebec. How could Fort Garry expect to be preserved, except in a picture?

"Winnipeg is London or New York on a small scale. You meet people from almost every part of the world. Ask a man on the street for direction, and the chances are ten to one that he answers, 'I have just arrived, sir.' Friends meet who parted last on the other side of the globe, and with a hasty 'What! you here too?' each passes on his way, probably to a real-estate office or auction room. The writer saw Winnipeg first in 1872. It consisted of a few rickety-looking shanties that looked as if they had been dropped promiscuously on the verge of a boundless prairie. The poorest inhabitant seemed willing to give anyone a lot or acre. And now, land on Main Street and the streets adjoining is held at higher figures than in the centre of Toronto; and Winnipeggers, in referrince [sp] to the future, never make comparisons with any city smaller than Chicago."

[Andy6]

Interesting. George Grant was one of the great public figures of Canada of his time (Queen's being in Kingston, of course, rather than Toronto). In 1881 one of his theology students was my great grandfather who later named my grandfather after him. Michael Ignatieff is Principal Grant's great grandson.

I scanned a few Upper Fort Garry pictures from my oldest (and rarest) Winnipeg viewbook, from 1889. At that time mass reproduction of photographs in books was still not possible, so this particular early manufacturer of viewbooks used a technique whereby a photograph was meticulously redrawn by hand, converted into lithographs using multiple strikings and then put through an emulsion process to give it the glossy finish of a photograph. All that is to say that they aren't drawings, exactly, but not quite photographs either.

Fort in 1871 -- the detail is interesting, with the native encampment on the South Point, the contrast between the canoe and the well-dressed Victorian lady being rowed by two gentlemen, the military inspection out in front of the Fort.



Here is the steamboat landing, which was just to the east of where the CN mainline railway bridge is today (as you walk on the Riverwalk away from the Forks).



Here is a panoramic view of the eastern side of the Fort, presumably somewhat later as buildings now line Main Street right down to the Fort (the two buildings at right standing where the PetroCan now is).

supersized

[j.online]

Fantastic letter rgalston!

This is the history we should be teaching in our schools to inspire the next generation of local leaders.

I'm always surprised at how little born & raised peggers know about our own local history (myself included).

[rgalston]

I'm quoting from the general construction thread here:

Originally Posted by 1ajs

the mom and pop was probly outside of nedys quik lunch witch was atached to the rear of 218 austin... with both thoughs 2 simlar looking homes were wned by the family and one was the buisnes and the other was the family home... infact the duckt work is still going up the side of the house for the old kitchen...

I hadn't noticed those ducts before, Adrian, and I didn't know the whole house was commercially used. The house next door, the one being painted, was one that we looked at buying in early 2005. We made an offer of $82,000, and our attorney thought we would be crazy to pay so much live there. It had to be both the best preserved and best upgraded house I've ever seen in a modest neighborhood. They could sell it for $150,000 today.

Also related to John Paskievich, one of his films, "Ted Baryluk's Grocery is available on the NFB website. It's a touching look at a storekeeper in the early 1980s at the corner of Euclid and Austin Street (Adrian, you can see photos of Nettie's Quick Lunch across the street). So much has changed here since then, but you can still catch a glimpse of the same North End of Ted Baryluk's at the last corner store in Point Douglas, Metro Meats, where the proprietress, maybe a little older than Ted's daughter, was thankfully content to seel "balonga and cigarettes".

Paul Tomkowicz: Street-railway Switchman is another short film that tells the story of a Eastern European immigrant in Winnipeg, this time in the early 1950s. Lots of shots of Winnipeg streetcars.

The Jews of Winnipeg (1973) and Iceland on the Prairies (1941) are also show Winnipeg in earlier times. Some video footage of these two group's respective "old neighborhoods", North Main Street and Sargent Avenue.

[someone123]

William Notman took some Winnipeg photos, including some of Fort Garry, and they're a part of the McCord Museum's online collection (http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/):

Fort Garry, MB, about 1869, copied for A. Jolly in 1870


Steamer "International", Fort Garry, MB, 1869


"Indian office", Winnipeg, MB, 1884 (Looks like this is what's shown in the panorama above)

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by rgalston

I'm quoting from the general construction thread here:

I hadn't noticed those ducts before, Adrian, and I didn't know the whole house was commercially used. The house next door, the one being painted, was one that we looked at buying in early 2005. We made an offer of $82,000, and our attorney thought we would be crazy to pay so much live there. It had to be both the best preserved and best upgraded house I've ever seen in a modest neighborhood. They could sell it for $150,000 today.

Also related to John Paskievich, one of his films, "Ted Baryluk's Grocery is available on the NFB website. It's a touching look at a storekeeper in the early 1980s at the corner of Euclid and Austin Street (Adrian, you can see photos of Nettie's Quick Lunch across the street). So much has changed here since then, but you can still catch a glimpse of the same North End of Ted Baryluk's at the last corner store in Point Douglas, Metro Meats, where the proprietress, maybe a little older than Ted's daughter, was thankfully content to seel "balonga and cigarettes".

Paul Tomkowicz: Street-railway Switchman is another short film that tells the story of a Eastern European immigrant in Winnipeg, this time in the early 1950s. Lots of shots of Winnipeg streetcars.

The Jews of Winnipeg (1973) and Iceland on the Prairies (1941) are also show Winnipeg in earlier times. Some video footage of these two group's respective "old neighborhoods", North Main Street and Sargent Avenue.

my parents used to own 218 austin befor the restraunt bit was demolished... when the old guy that had owned both homes died they were both being sold as 1 lot together for 50k in 94-96 can't remeber the exact year had to talk them into selling just 218 the house next to it was like walking back into the 70's compltle with wall to wall shag carpeting but it was all like new but coverd in dust sad thing is the people that bought 218 off us riped out the stane glass windows in the front living room and put in new energer effient windows but they also totaly guted that house and insulted it... it needed it as there was practicaly no insulation in it... the atic in that house is big enuff to put a studio in also.. shame you did not buy that other one its a gem not to mention the garden........ if you go in the back yard of the duplex next door theres mosic bits left over from portage place... those square things what ever they are called that john tuper put down as steping stones when he had that place

anyhow when we bought that house the plan was to fix it up and move into it... lol never happend due to the city compltly riping up all the water lines in the area and replacing them... witch is why austin has such a high tax rate... anyhow there was a garadge in the rear and a shed also the restraun when we got it still had all the stools and posters dishs ect even the tv and radio still set up as if it was still open realy a shame it was demolished but the idiots that built it onto the house had built it so the water was geting traped against the house and roted out the structure and so it was demolished was kinda mis that space with its sign and such along euclid made the street feel that much biger to bad the way the bylaws are one can just slap an adition on the back and open a restraunt anymore

rob you should write a peac on nedis it was an institution

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by someone123

William Notman took some Winnipeg photos, including some of Fort Garry, and they're a part of the McCord Museum's online collection (http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/):

Fort Garry, MB, about 1869, copied for A. Jolly in 1870


Steamer "International", Fort Garry, MB, 1869

So the image in my viewbook was probably based on one of Notman's photographs from c. 1869. Interesting that a lot of the detail on the side of the sternwheeler ("International") is slightly off.

[Andy6]

For Rob (remembering his Starbucks piece) here is the announcement of a new tearoom at Portage and Main (SW corner), in the FP of April 11, 1914. By 1922 it is called the Argyle Café, according to the Henderson Directory.

[trueviking]

JUST days before Manitobans celebrate Louis Riel Day, staff at U.N. Luggage in the Exchange accidentally uncovered their own piece of Red River history -- a graffiti wall that dates back to 1889.

Jon Thiessen said a staff member at his family's bag and travel shop was removing wood panels from a store wall on Friday as part of renovation.

Several wood panels were ripped off and revealed a plaster surface with names, dates, and scrawls of horses, Red River carts and sheep.

Thiessen said one man wrote: "coming from Point Douglas, met a broad after a hoe down," near hand-drawn pictures of ducks and multiple signatures penned in thick, black paint or charcoal. Dates ranging from Feb. 29, 1889 to 1891 covered the wall.

"One hundred years ago, no one (wanted) to see brick so they covered it up with plaster," Thiessen said, pointing at names written on the wall.

"I guess these are the guys that did the wall."

U.N. Luggage is located at 175 McDermot Ave. Now a heritage building, it was built in the early 1880s as a three-story warehouse.

The crumbling plaster wall is located on an upper mezzanine, about seven feet off the store's ground level. Thiessen said the mezzanine was added around 1910, and believes the original drawings likely extended from the mezzanine down to ground level but were destroyed during the renovation.

He said the unusual discovery has put the store's renovation on hold, as no one is quite sure what to do with it. He's hoping history buffs or someone willing to photograph the wall for posterity will step forward with some ideas.

"I really wonder why they would've drawn the animals," Thiessen said.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

[flatlander]

^^^That is totally cool. Anyone else remember the signage on the old Savoy Hotel, north west corner of Main/Higgins, when they demolished the adjacent building?

I am always surprised at how few trees there are on the riverbank in old photos. I guess they were used as firewood?

Popped into the new Birk's location downtown. They did a great job with understated signage. They need to get the word out that they're open. I think the only thing I could afford was the blue box.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by flatlander

^^^That is totally cool. Anyone else remember the signage on the old Savoy Hotel, north west corner of Main/Higgins, when they demolished the adjacent building?

I am always surprised at how few trees there are on the riverbank in old photos. I guess they were used as firewood?

Popped into the new Birk's location downtown. They did a great job with understated signage. They need to get the word out that they're open. I think the only thing I could afford was the blue box.

Probably. The fort would probably have required unobstructed views of who was on the river as well. I am not really clear on how many trees there were in Winnipeg originally. I guess there were some scrubby oaks along the riverbanks and a few big cottonwoods here and there, but I assume it was all pretty barren. It seems as though some low and wet areas like Elm Park might have been forested as well, although that's essentially just riverbank.

[1ajs]

thats an interesting find