Winnipeg | Historical discussion

[wardlow]

Originally Posted by esquire

I remember that era, I was a couple of years older but I was always fascinated by that stretch. It was part of the route my parents would take to get downtown so I was pretty well acquainted with it from the backseat.

I remember nagging my dad to take me to have a look at the CPR station which at the time was still a CP office building despite no longer having any passenger trains coming through. As you said, that area was still kind of hanging on as a functional commercial area but it bottomed out later that decade when the buildings around Higgins were demolished.

I remember around that time my dad telling me about dropping in on a shabby grocery store on Higgins, and the old proprietor saying his parents started the business because it was a good location across from the railway station. That always left an impression on me.

I've looked at Henderson directories from those years, and there still was still a fair amount of businesses in operation on Main: butcher/grocery stores, barber shops, sporting goods, cafes. And of course way more hotels than there are now.

[esquire]

^ Yes, right up to the early 1990s, North Main from Rupert to Higgins was a legitimate commercial strip. You could actually go there and buy things you needed. These days I'm hard pressed to think of any commercial establishments left along that stretch... there isn't much. Even Main Meats finally gave up the ghost a while back.

[wardlow]

Yes I noticed Main Meats is no more, and of course Mitchell's Fabrics too.

Even by 2000, when I started exploring the area on my own, there really wasn't much left compared to a decade or so before. Main Meats (in its pre-WRHA location) and Mitchell's, but that's about it beside the soup kitchens, and the bars and cafes in the hotels. Except there was a standalone cafe on the west side of the street, just north of the Bell Hotel... I want to say Empire Cafe? I went in there once, and it looked like they stopped keeping it up around 1960. Good burgers though. The business and the building are now gone.

I'm not sure if Italia Barbers on the ground floor of the McLaren Hotel is still open. I used to go there sometimes, when they were in a building next door before it was demolished. The main guy said he had been cutting hair on Main "all my life," and his barbering certificate was dated 1962. I can't believe the Free Press or something doesn't do a feature on him. I think this is him (or at least his shop) under the canopy on the left of this photo:

[TimeFadesAway]

Originally Posted by wardlow

I'm not sure if Italia Barbers on the ground floor of the McLaren Hotel is still open.

He's still open. My father-in-law gets his hair cut there. I think it's a German guy now running the place.

[esquire]

Here's a cool photo of the site of 201 Portage as it used to look, just before the wrecking balls swung

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9513047@N05/39845123935/

[drew]

^ ugh. Such a shame.

[esquire]

I know, right... bring it back. If only. Sigh.

Incidentally, that flickr account is constantly adding obscure historic photos including many from the not so distant past. I don't know where 'jerryco' finds all that stuff but it is absolute gold, just a treasure trove of stuff.

[Roger Strong]

Think of all the bachelor micro-apartments we could have had.

[bomberjet]

That photo of P&M is so depressing.. I love all the old photos and history in general. But looking at what downtown used to be to now.. sure 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵.

[Authentic_City]

Not sure if this is the right thread for this but, I just noticed yesterday that someone painted over the old Club Morocco sign on the side of the building! That's a crime against history. Why on earth would anyone do that?

Also, there's black garbage bags covering the Nectar sign. Under new ownership I guess.

Here's how it used to look

[esquire]

Here's an interesting vintage pic of the Dominion store that used to exist at Confusion Corner (it's the same building that houses Dollarama today).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9513047@N05/39167415500/

I wonder why a supermarket ceased to exist on that site... it seems like a winner of a location given the proximity to neighbourhoods that don't strike me as having a ton of options when it comes to groceries (Osborne Village, Riverview, Fort Rouge).

[drew]

^ wasn't it a car dealership immediately prior to its current form?

i.e. Dominion (grocery store) --> car dealership --> dollarama (current).

[esquire]

^ Yes, Orion Chevrolet was there. That's certainly my earliest memory of it from the 80s.

[davequanbury]

Hey guys,
don't usually post here, but often come around to read the thread.
Came across this photo today randomly, this building is still there at the corner of Main and Dufferin.

what a difference a cornice makes.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by esquire

I remember that era, I was a couple of years older but I was always fascinated by that stretch. It was part of the route my parents would take to get downtown so I was pretty well acquainted with it from the backseat.

I remember nagging my dad to take me to have a look at the CPR station which at the time was still a CP office building despite no longer having any passenger trains coming through. As you said, that area was still kind of hanging on as a functional commercial area but it bottomed out later that decade when the buildings around Higgins were demolished.

Do you remember the 1978 "the Discovery Train"? It crossed Canada on a tour and spent several days in Winnipeg. This rolling museum stopped at the CPR Station.



https://access-newspaperarchive-com.wpl-...t=10216&ndt=by&py=1977&pey=1979&psb=date

We toured the train in Summer of 1978.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

Do you remember the 1978 "Heritage Train" or whatever it was called back then? It crossed Canada on a tour and spent several days in Winnipeg.

We toured the train in Summer of 1978.

Yeah, we went there too. I had no idea up until that time that there was such a place as the CPR station. The Heritage train was the US bicentennial train from 1976. The Canadian government refitted it as a Canadian unity train — Trudeau Sr. was going full tilt on national unity propaganda after the P.Q. victory in the 1976 Quebec election.

[esquire]

That's interesting, I've heard of the 1967 Centennial Train but to now I had never heard of the Discovery Train. The train itself predated me so needless to say I never visited it...

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

Do you remember the 1978 "the Discovery Train"? It crossed Canada on a tour and spent several days in Winnipeg. This rolling museum stopped at the CPR Station.
We toured the train in Summer of 1978.

I remember it. Went there with my parents. CP still had passenger train service at the station.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by davequanbury

Hey guys,
don't usually post here, but often come around to read the thread.
Came across this photo today randomly, this building is still there at the corner of Main and Dufferin.

what a difference a cornice makes.

great find txs

the yale sure looks allot different as well

[BuildUpWpg]

Originally Posted by esquire

I know, right... bring it back. If only. Sigh.

Incidentally, that flickr account is constantly adding obscure historic photos including many from the not so distant past. I don't know where 'jerryco' finds all that stuff but it is absolute gold, just a treasure trove of stuff.

I look at those photos and sigh at the demolition of old city hall. It looks like the fanciest building Winnipeg ever had. Do you think that was the worst demolition blunder in Winnipeg history? I don't mind the 201 Portage demolition because it least it was replaced with arguably the nicest skyscraper in the city.