The Forks Market offers a multitude of shops to browse for a wide variety of specialty items and souvenirs. Downstairs, The Market features a fresh food emporium with everything from gourmet cheeses to meats, organic baked goods and wine. Upstairs, in the Market Loft, shoppers will find items ranging from cigars and aromatherapy products to crafts and artworks from three hundred local and Canadian artisans. A constantly changing array of artisans and vendors also sell their wares at day tables inside The Forks Market and outside on The Plaza.
Across the courtyard from the Forks Market is the four-story Johnston Terminal building. Originally constructed in 1930, the terminal was a warehouse and freight-forwarding facility. After a substantial addition in 1930, the warehouse was at the time one of the largest in Winnipeg. It was occupied by National Storage and Cartage until 1961, and was leased to the Johnston National Cartage Company for the next fifteen years. Vacated in 1977, the building was unoccupied until the redevelopment of the site into The Forks.
241 Yale Avenue288 Yale Avenue – dormers, pediment, bay window283 Yale Avenue – English Manor house – Jacobean gable37 Kingsway – Neo-colonial – gambrel roof29 Ruskin Row – The house, built for businessman Robert Ross Scott, is a grand brick and wood-frame structure built in 1914 in Crescentwood, one of Winnipeg’s early affluent neighborhoods. It is a fine interpretation of a Tudor Revival-style residence. Designed by John N. Semmens, the large dwelling is distinguished by several characteristics of the style, including a steeply pitched roof line with cross gables and dormers, massive chimneys, masonry and stuccoed walls with decorative half-timbering and multi-paned windows including sash, casement, oriel and bay windows in wood frames. The 2½-storey house has an off-center front entrance porch topped by a balcony. The load-bearing brick base is finished in red-brown brick with header detailing. Other details include barge boards and wood finials on the gable ends, stone lug sills, pilaster strips and detailed brickwork around the front entrance.2 Ruskin Row – corner quoins, pediment above doorPalk Road – balustrade
Near the convergence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers is a natural shallow amphitheater known as the Oodena Celebration Circle. It pays homage to the 6,000 years of Aboriginal peoples in the area. Oodena, Ojibew for “heart of the communityâ€, features ethereal sculptures, a sundial, interpretive signage, a naked eye observatory and a ceremonial fire pit, making it a desirable venue for cultural celebrations or a place to simply sit and marvel at its beauty. Oodena was inspired by the myths and sacred places of the many people drawn to The Forks over its 7,000-year history. It is interpreted as an opportunity to restore contact with the cultural history of the site and the dynamic forces of earth, water and sky. Surrounding the bowl, cobblestone formations support sculptural sighting armatures that act as guideposts for celestial orientation.
Sun Stone – The sun was central to Aztec culture in Mexico. The sun god is in the center with the order of the cosmos weaving Aztec concepts of time, space, politics and the sacred.The vision of Antoine Predock, an architect from Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights is a journey beginning with a descent into the earth where visitors enter the building through the “roots” of the museum, through the Great Hall, then a series of vast spaces and ramps, before culminating in the Tower of Hope, a tall spire protruding from the top that provides visitors with views of downtown Winnipeg. Its purpose is to promote respect for others.
251 Furby Street – Mayor’s Mansion – two-story bay window147 East Gate was built in 1882 for Arthur F. Eden, land commissioner for the Manitoba and Northern Railway and later a partner of Stobart Wholesale Merchants. Some people are of the opinion that this house was originally the home of James Armstrong, though others believe that Armstrong resided on the point only as a squatter. The front door faces the River as the original drive circled to that side of the house. The Bird Cage Tennis Club occupied seven acres here between East Gate and Middle Gate. In 1891, the house was purchased by William Fisher of Happyland Amusement Park. Mr. Fisher called this house Elmsley. The fireplace in the living room is faced with blue Minton tiles telling the story of the Knights of the Round Table and the sword Excalibur. The house was owned by the Dr. Bruce Chown family. Fisher divided his property into three lots and sold them. The southern portion, the red brick house, became the Tupper property. W. J. Tupper lived there until he became Lieutenant Governor.100 East Gate – Georgian – engaged columns, open pediment, sidelights and transom90 East Gate – Gothic Revival with Tudor accents on gables, dormer, entrance with parapet above, sidelights – It was built in 1909 by R. T. Riley who lived here until he built 186 Westgate in 1920. The house then passed to C. S. Riley, his son. The walls are eighteen inches thick. One mantel has scenes from the Lord’s Prayer.89 East Gate –English Manor house – Jacobean gables, dormers with window hoods – built for George Crowe, a Winnipeg alderman in 1911. The home has ten fireplaces, nine bathrooms, a ballroom in the basement and a vault under the front entrance hall.69 East Gate – Tudor – built in 1896 by James Rawlinson Waghorn, the publisher of Waghorn’s Pocket Guide, a stockbroker and financial agent. He was secretary of the Birdcage Tennis Club (in Armstrong’s Point) and co-founder of the St. Charles Country Club. He called his home Maple Grove and it became a social center. The dining room seated fifty people in comfort. In 1905 the touring Shakespearean Company, the Ben Greet Players, performed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream†on the grassy knoll in the yard. Dame Sybil Thorndyke was a cast member, on her first tour. The second owner, Dan Bain, was a noted sportsman. Team Captain of the Winnipeg Victorias hockey team that twice won the Stanley Cup, he also placed second in the 1930 Canadian Figure Skating Championships in the waltz contest at the age of 56.51 East Gate – cobblestone, two-story frontispiece, hipped roof40 East Gate – hipped roof with dormer and tall chimney39 East Gate – Queen Anne style – three-story tower, dormers, voussoirs and keystones, gambrel roof at one end5 East Gate – Greek Revival – two-story pillars, two-story verandas – built in 1906 by Thomas Ryan, of Ryan’s Boots and Shoes. He was the mayor of Winnipeg while in his thirties.6 Middle Gate – Henry Linnell, architect, designed this home which was constructed at a cost of $24,000 for John T. Speirs, President of Speirs Parnell Baking Company, now part of Weston’s22 Middle Gate – three-story tower, dormer, second floor balcony with Doric pillars supporting it64 Middle Gate – Neo-colonial – dormers, voussoirs and keystones, sidelights123 Middle Gate – decorative gables, wraparound enclosed veranda – built in 1891 for Frederick William Stobart, wholesale dry goods merchant137 West Gate – Greek Revival – two-story pillars with Ionic capitals, dormer with Doric pillars, dentil molding – built in 1904 by William Wallace Blair – Blair called it ‘Kenilworth’134 West Gate – Queen Anne style – gables with fish scale patterning, tall chimneys, dormers, cornice brackets, second floor balcony with turned spindle balustrade, bay windows, pediment above porch – J. B. Monk, Manager of Bank of Ottawa, built it in 1898. It was Japanese Consulate until 1976.119 West Gate – Italianate – hipped roof with dormers and window hoods, tall chimney, balcony above Ionic pillars, bay window – owned at one time by Sidney T. Smith of Smith and Murphy, Grain Merchants112 West Gate – Dunedin – built in 1906 by William Harvey, trust company executive. It was designed by J.H.G. Russell. It was owned in the 1950s by Rupert Whitehead, well known for his accomplishments as a figure skater with the Winnipeg Ice Club.54 West Gate – The Ralph Connor House, a three-story brick Jacobethan Revival mansion built in 1913-14, sits on a well-groomed lot overlooking the Assiniboine River. It is noted for its complex roof structure, and warm red-brown brick facades contrasted by limestone dressings on a high stone foundation. Designed by architect G.W. Northwood, the mansion was first associated with Charles William Gordon, a minister at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church, a social reformer and best-selling author of international renown. As ‘Ralph Connor’, he penned 25 popular novels known for their moralistic, action-oriented plots of good versus evil and for their portrayals of early life in Ontario and the West. The most popular works were incorporated into Manitoba school reading programs in the 1940s, and three were made into silent movies. Gordon maintained a Winnipeg ministry, served as a military chaplain during World War I, was moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Canada during the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925, and was involved in the League of Nations. The house has retained a high degree of physical integrity due to its successor occupant, the University Women’s Club of Winnipeg, a pioneering organization that has long promoted the advancement of women in the community and has diligently conserved the Ralph Connor House since 1939. The asymmetrical structure has a complex roof featuring steeply pitched cross-gable and hipped sections, wall dormers and one smaller gable and two shed dormers. The large rectangular windows have decorative limestone surrounds, lintels and mullions, some featuring six-pane top lights; there are also three dominant bay windows and a large stacked bank on the south elevation with rows of four windows separated by limestone medallions. The exquisite details and materials include stacked chimneys, cedar shingles, limestone coping and accents throughout, bracketed eaves, and label moldings.
393 Wellington Crescent – The Fortune Residence, a 2½-storey dwelling of wood-frame construction clad in stone, stucco and mock half-timbering, was built in 1910-11 and occupies a large riverbank lot in the Crescentwood area of south Winnipeg. Designed by W.W. Blair, the Tudor Revival styled mansion was built for the family of pioneer real estate developer Mark Fortune. The house was only a few months old when Fortune and his son died in the Titanic shipwreck of 1912. His wife and daughters were rowed to safety and continued to live in the great riverbank home until about 1920. The expansive, irregular, slightly L-shaped house has various projecting elements such as bay and oriel windows, a stone terrace, an east-side sun room, and pronounced exterior stone chimneys. The steep, complex roof line of truncated hip and side-gable sections has twin overlapping front (south) gables, hipped dormers on all sides, and a gabled rear bay coupled with a massive stone chimney. The sturdy stone foundation and wood-frame construction are elegantly clothed by rusticated limestone and roughcast with ornamental half-timbering. The many windows are mostly flat-headed squares or tall vertical rectangles of various widths arranged in singles or groups, but also include a rear eyebrow window. The offset main entrance includes a grand stone staircase integrated with a tower-like two-story bay window. The door is set within smooth-cut stone. Other details include bracketed eaves, barge boards, and window surrounds of smooth-cut stone and plain wood.514 Wellington Crescent – hipped roof with dormers, and tall chimneys; second floor balcony above entrance; pediment above second floor central door and window grouping; second floor balconies on both sides of the house550 Wellington Crescent – St. Mary’s Academy – since 1869 – corner stone A.D. 1902 – is an independent, Catholic school serving young women in grades seven through twelve.633 Wellington Crescent – Greek Revival style – two-story tall Doric pillars topped by a pediment638 Wellington Crescent – Queen Anne style, cornice return on gables, dormer in centerWellington Crescent – Italianate – 2½-storey frontispiece with pediment, dormers in attic61 Heaton Avenue – quoining, second floor balconette with composite pillars and balustrade, pediment with decorative cornice and year 1904123 Main Street – Winnipeg Union Station was built 1908-11 for the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern Railways. Beaux Arts style with balanced plan and classical details of the grand central arch flanked by paired columns and topped by a large dome. Here a horse-drawn cart is seen passing in front of Union Station. Although largely abandoned as a primary means of transportation by the 1930s, some commercial businesses continued to use the horse and cart into the 1950s.
450 Broadway Avenue – The Manitoba Legislative Building, erected in 1913-20, is a monumental reinforced concrete, steel and stone structure on a formal landscaped site between Broadway and the Assiniboine River in downtown Winnipeg. The pinnacle of Beaux-Arts Classical architecture in the province is an imposing seat of government symbolic of local strength and vitality and of the import of the official functions that occur within its walls. The solid, massive edifice, which dominates its expansive site and is visible from various vantages, is a disciplined expression of classical Greek Revival styling crowned by a symbol of youth and enterprise, the Golden Boy, graced by allegorical and historical ornament, and proudly wrapped in local Tyndall limestone. Key elements that define the building’s stately Beaux-Arts Classical architecture include the symmetrical H-shaped massing, rising three stories from a high base, and sheathed in channeled and ashlar Tyndall stone. The strong horizontal lines are reinforced by the flat roof, continuous modillioned cornice, parapet and other banding elements, and the rhythmic arrangement of windows. The multi-tiered central tower has offset corners, fluted Corinthian columns, a full entablature, a copper-paneled dome with small round dormers, and a cupola crowned with the Golden Boy. There are porticoes on each facade, large stone staircases, and colonnades with giant order columns, full entablatures, pediments, and finely detailed entrances. There are many rectangular windows with some framed by architraves, others in relief surrounds. The exuberant and profuse details throughout include stone and metal balustrades, pilasters, engaged columns, belt courses, niches, raised panels, and urns. There are many exceptional historical and allegorical sculptures, including twin sphinxes flanking the north pediment, figures and groupings of figures.545 Broadway Avenue – three-story tower with cone-shaped roof, dormer, pediment, deep wraparound verandah222 Broadway Avenue – The Fort Garry Hotel is one of a series of Chateau-style hotels built by Canadian railway companies in the early twentieth century to encourage tourists to travel their transcontinental routes. Popular with the traveling public for their elaborate decor and comfortable elegance, these hotels quickly became a national symbol of quality accommodation. The Fort Garry Hotel was built in Winnipeg in 1911-13. Its Chateau style is evident in its steeply pitched, truncated hip roof punctuated by multiple peaks, progressively smaller dormer windows, and finials; its imposing massing; its smooth-cut stone cladding; and its elaborate decorative stonework. Its main block is divided into three vertical sections defined by continuous bands of string coursing and entablatures. It has a two-story arcaded base containing the ground floor lobby and dining rooms; six intermediary stories with a regular, alternating, window pattern; and a two-story arcaded top containing the main reception rooms. It has strips of oriel windows flanking a slightly recessed center, delicately carved gables, Indiana limestone walls, a grey granite base; and copper roofing. The steep copper roof is defined by a multitude of small shed- and hip-roofed dormers, highly elaborate stone dormer facades at the corners, many pinnacles, and a large ornate chimney. Rich detailing is seen in the decorative stonework at the cornice, balcony balustrades atop the bay windows, and a rounded stone turret topped by a polygonal roof. It has a formal entrance with stone stairs, brass railings, and a copper-detailed canopy. There are grand, double-height interior public spaces on the ground and seventh floors. The ground floor consists of a main lobby; a main dining room; and a circular dining room at the rear. The elaborate main lobby is surrounded by a mezzanine with four large corner piers joined by arches with keystones bearing the national or provincial emblem; a marble inlay floor; marble stairway with iron and bronze balustrade; gold-trimmed piers and moldings; bronze railing around the mezzanine; paneled ceiling; and the front desk is concealed between two pilasters. The main, two-story dining room, occupies the length of the west side of the ground floor, and includes: large windows; marble dado; bronze sconces and chandeliers; a paneled ceiling with modeled bas-reliefs of dragons, thistles, pine cones and tulips; bronze, French doors with bronze handles ornamented with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) logo.433 Broadway Avenue – Land Titles Building – cartouches 19 and 04, composite capitals on the pilasters, pediment with decorative tympanum, dentil molding, parapet433 Broadway Avenue – Entrance – transom, door voussoirs with keystone, scrolled pediment391 Broadway Avenue – The Winnipeg Law Courts National Historic Site of Canada is located directly across from the Legislature Building in the provincial government precinct of downtown Winnipeg. It is a three-story, Beaux Arts style building of sculpted grey limestone. Its monumental scale and prominent siting attest to its important role and symbolize the judicial institution of Manitoba. Constructed during an extended period of great optimism in the province, the Law Courts building was designed by the Provincial Architect, Victor W. Horwood, to complement the new Legislative Building, a monumental Neo-classical structure under construction across the street. Beginning in 1912, construction of the steel-framed Law Courts took four years and was timed to open in conjunction with the new Legislative Building. The formal grandeur of the classically-inspired Beaux-Arts design reflects the dignity of the Law Courts. An elaborate corner cupola with a raised copper dome ties the pedimented pavilions on the south and east facades together, and draws the eye to the columned “grand entrance†on Kennedy Street. Across the facades run a dentilled cornice and a deep parapet, all in creamy-grey limestone. Interior court rooms feature large windows, with the higher courts accessed by interior passageways so that prisoners could be brought directly into the court from holding areas below, and to provide private entries for the judges.10 Kennedy Street – Government House – the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba – completed in 1883 – Manitoba’s Government house is a structure of solid masonry walls and timber floor framing. It is Second Empire architecture with a flat steep-side mansard roof with dormers. The royal bedroom on the second floor is reserved for use by the sovereign and other Royal Family members when they are in Winnipeg, and the gold room accommodates royal support staff or other royals if the monarch is occupying the royal bedroom. The attic floor has been divided into four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room, and a three and one-half room suite for the resident housekeeper. From this floor the tower can be accessed. The lieutenant governor’s standard is flown when he or she is in residence. Manitoba’s Government House is surrounded on three sides by manicured gardens. In 2010, part of the grounds was dedicated as the Queen Elizabeth II Gardens by the Queen on July 3 that year, in preparation for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. At the same time, a statue of The Queen that had been created in 1970 by Leo Mol was moved here and unveiled by the Queen.26 Edmonton Avenue – cornice brackets, two-story wraparound verandas37 Edmonton Avenue – Queen Anne style, turret, veranda with Doric pillars, pediment, two-story bay window
210 Maryland Street – 3-story circular tower with cone-shaped cap, dormer199 Maryland Street – Tudor half-timbering745 Westminster Avenue –1910-1912 – featuring a beautiful rose window – Westminster United Church is a substantial stone edifice built as a Presbyterian facility in 1910-12, in the Late Gothic Revival style. It is of monumental proportions with a disciplined yet expressive exterior. From its imposing towers to its monochromatic limestone dressing and exquisite rose window, this church is a striking and vital presence in the tree-lined Wolseley neighborhood. Key elements that define the church’s style and stone construction include the substantial, expansive form of an elongated rectangle on a high base, with wide stubby transepts and a deep west annex, all built of stone around a metal and wood frame. The vertical emphasis is provided by the main volume’s two-story-plus mass under a high gable roof with cross gables. It has long slender windows, many buttresses and an elevated front entrance flanked by soaring towers of unequal height with tall belfry openings and crocketed pinnacles. The walls are of rough-cut Manitoba limestone randomly laid; there are smooth- and rough-cut door and window accents, staged buttresses with smooth offsets, and broad stone staircases. The distinctive Gothic-style openings, many set in Tudor arches, some with matching hood-molding, many with tracery, including the main volume’s five-part transept openings are other key elements. The large multi-hued rose window with curvilinear tracery is beautiful. Gothic details include crenelation, raised gable ends with smooth stone coping and banding elements, panels of blind pointed arches, and pinnacled colonnettes. The two-story annex has a hipped roof, dormers, south pavilion and porch, and generous fenestration. There are large chimneys.830 Wolseley Avenue – two-story turret erupting through roof838 Wolseley Avenue, Moyse House, is a brick mansion erected in 1913. It is an example of a Georgian Revival mansion, an architectural style that was popular in the Wolseley neighborhood, an area of mostly single-family houses along the north side of the Assiniboine River, and south of Portage Avenue. Its orderly facades, hipped roof with dormers, red brick finish contrasted with light limestone and wood trim, classically detailed rear verandah and signature Palladian-style window all speak to the skill of the architect, P.M. Clemens, who also designed the house next door in a similar fashion. John Moyse was the owner of a downtown livery stable. Key elements that define its style include the nearly square plan, 2½ stories in height, its brick construction on a raised limestone foundation, a hipped roof, gable dormers, and a west gable end that doubles as a pavilion pediment. Other elements include the harmonious, symmetrical facades, with walls of mainly flat red brick. The many windows are mostly tall rectangular flat-headed openings in singles, twos or threes, with several having multi-paned upper sashes. The two primary entrances are a north door with sidelights and a fanlight accessed through a modified two-story wooden porch and an elaborate west entrance recessed below a broad brick and rusticated stone archway, and flanked by compact round-arched windows. The classically inspired details and features include modillioned wood cornices along the main roof, and south verandah, prominent keystones and arched brickwork over windows, stone windowsills, cartouches in the north dormer and west gable ends, the south-side walkout, and tall chimneys.960 Wolseley Avenue – In December 1913, when Mrs. Isaac Cockburn (Laura Secord’s granddaughter) formally opened the ten completed rooms, the school stood among empty market garden fields on the fertile banks of the Assiniboine River, at 960 Wolseley Avenue. The school occupies a large site in an older residential neighbourhood. When completed, Laura Secord School was the most modern building of its kind in the city. Twenty-six classrooms, two manual training rooms, a huge auditorium that seats 800, shops, showers and a third-floor caretaker suite made it one of the largest schools built during the era. It covered over 25,000 square feet per floor and was 72 feet tall. The school had separate entrances for boys and girls which continued to be used until the mid-1970s. The similar shading of materials on Laura Secord demonstrates how they age and discolor differently. All the limestone has a dirty appearance because it tends to accumulate pollutants faster than the brick. This is very evident on the foundation and windows sills and is common on many older buildings with limestone elements. While the stone darkens, the brick develops a patina, adding to its lightness. Laura Secord School’s most stunning feature is the baroque entrance way. Of fireproof construction, the school features long, classically ornamented rectangular facades organized around an interior courtyard. Inside are classrooms with large windows for natural light and ventilation, wide corridors, staircases and exits in all wings, and usable basement spaces. Key elements include its substantial, nearly square form, two stories high over a raised basement, of reinforced concrete construction with brick and limestone walls and a shallow mansard-shaped roof lined by semi-elliptical dormers. The impressive front has a central tower, an arched open porch accessed via broad twin staircases and end pavilions divided into three bays topped by stepped gables containing half-circle windows. The many tall rectangular windows, most with stained-glass transoms, are set in single, pairs and banks of four throughout. Fine brick- and stonework on all elevations includes a high rusticated stone base and pale brick walls laid; a wraparound stone belt course is above the second floor. Delicately carved stone column caps and keystones are found on the front porch. There are stone sills, coping and pilaster caps; brick pilasters, corbelling and spandrel detailing. There is an elaborate arrangement of brick and stone voussoirs atop the tower’s round-arched upper window. The stone-carved name ‘LAURA SECORD SCHOOL’ and a stained-glass version of the school’s crest on the tower are additional features.180 Nassau Street – turret and dormer549 Gertrude Avenue at Nassau Street – Trinity Baptist Church – Romanesque style stone building, tower with finials with cone-shaped caps, rose windows, buttresses525 Wardlaw Avenue at the corner of Nassau Street – Crescent Fort Rouge United Church – 1910 – a stately Romanesque Revival style church with banding on the towers218 Roslyn Road – Corinthian capitals surrounding door with a semi-circular transom; circular windows on either side of door; balustrade on second floor windows, pilasters with Ionic capitals, decorative cornice, banding; two story tower at back176 Roslyn Road – dormer with keystone above central window; banding above second floor windows; dentil molding353 St. Mary’s Avenue – St. Mary’s Cathedral was originally designed in 1880 by C. Balston Kenway and was updated in 1896 by Samuel Hooper, an English-born stonemason and architect who was later appointed Provincial Architect of Manitoba. The building features elements of Romanesque Revival and Germanic tower and spire. It is the cathedral church of the archdiocese of Winnipeg, one of two Roman Catholic cathedrals in Winnipeg; the other one is St Boniface Basilica of the archdiocese of St. Boniface and is across the Red River in Winnipeg’s French Quarter.
The Exchange District is in
downtown Winnipeg just north of Portage and Main. It derives its name from the
Winnipeg Grain Exchange, the center of the grain exchange in Canada. The
Exchange District is the historic center of commerce in Western Canada. The District
developed from the banks of the Red River at the foot of Bannatyne and Dermot
Avenues. Most commercial traffic came along the Red River from St. Paul,
Minnesota where the nearest rail line passed. Goods were shipped to Winnipeg by
steamer during high water in spring.
The Canadian Pacific Railway
built its transcontinental line through Winnipeg which arrived in 1881. Thousands
of settlers came west from Europe and Eastern Canada to farm the land. Winnipeg
business developed quickly to meet the needs of the growing western population.
The Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange was founded in 1887 and within a few
years Winnipeg was one of the world’s fastest-growing grain centers. Winnipeg
was also one of the largest rail centers in North America with twelve lines
passing through the city by 1890 and there were over eighty wholesale
businesses located in the District. Wholesale goods were shipped in from Lake
Superior ports in the spring and grain was shipped out from Winnipeg to the
Lakehead in the fall. The Exchange represented Canada throughout the world and
it largely financed Winnipeg’s growth. Together with a strong world economy
supported by an increase in gold reserves, the Exchange attracted many British
and Eastern Canadian banks, trust, insurance and mortgage companies to the
District to do business.
Through the Winnipeg Grain
Exchange, the city was linked to other major financial centers of London,
Liverpool, New York and Chicago. Most Canadian financial institutions
established their Western Canadian headquarters in Winnipeg and by 1910 there
were almost twenty banking halls and offices on Main Street between City Hall
and Portage Avenue. Many Winnipeg-based financial companies were also
established.
Some of the finest warehouses in North America based on an American Romanesque style can be found in Winnipeg. The Romanesque warehouses are typically of heavy wood post and beam construction with foundations of large rough-faced stone blocks set with deep, recessed joints (called rustication) and brick walls with piers and stone spandrels to support heavy loads. The Romanesque or round-head arch is used in the tunnels through the buildings which provided for protected loading and unloading of goods within, and in the large windows which provided natural light to the interior before electric light was affordable. At the turn of the century, Chicago was the center of North American architecture. Louis Sullivan developed the first steel frame and reinforced concrete buildings. Sullivan used stone and terracotta on the exterior, suspended by metal shelves bolted to the frame. He favored terracotta with simple details which complimented rather than completely covered the surface as in earlier heavily-detailed styles. John D. Atchison was the foremost Chicago School architect in the city.
‘The Gateway to the West’ and ‘The Chicago of the North’ were two of the phrases used to describe Winnipeg’s future in the heady days of the late nineteenth century. Especially important in Winnipeg’s phenomenal growth was its role as middleman between eastern Canadian manufacturers and their new markets in what would become Alberta and Saskatchewan. As waves of homesteaders from central Canada and many European countries poured into Canada’s prairies, dry goods, hardware and groceries all became increasingly important for the consumers, the manufacturers and Winnipeg’s warehouse men and wholesalers, and it became increasingly important for Winnipeg’s wholesalers to have railway connections both to receive raw materials and stock and to ship goods to western markets.
Branch railway lines or spur lines, built to service the wholesalers
were first constructed on the west side of Main Street near City Hall in the
1870s and 1880s. The warehouse district area grew rapidly, and Winnipeg
hardware merchant J.H. Ashdown negotiated a spur line of the Winnipeg Transfer
Railway in 1895 through the area immediately east of City Hall and Main Street.
This line ran up the middle of the land between Bannatyne and Market Avenues
and it was here that Ashdown built his large warehouse (157-179 Bannatyne
Avenue) in 1896.
The Exchange District is a well-established and vibrant neighborhood in
Winnipeg. It features a large and well-preserved collection of heritage
buildings which include huge stone and brick warehouses, elegant
terracotta-clad buildings, narrow angled streets and cobblestone paths. The
Exchange District is an arts and cultural hub which features a thriving film,
arts and music scene with many studios, art spaces, festivals and events.
The Exchange District is in
downtown Winnipeg just north of Portage and Main. It derives its name from the
Winnipeg Grain Exchange, the center of the grain exchange in Canada. The
Exchange District is the historic center of commerce in Western Canada. The
District developed from the banks of the Red River at the foot of Bannatyne and
Dermot Avenues. Most commercial traffic came along the Red River from St. Paul,
Minnesota where the nearest rail line passed. Goods were shipped to Winnipeg by
steamer during high water in spring.
The Canadian Pacific Railway
built its transcontinental line through Winnipeg which arrived in 1881. Thousands
of settlers came west from Europe and Eastern Canada to farm the land. Winnipeg
business developed quickly to meet the needs of the growing western population.
The Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange was founded in 1887 and within a few
years Winnipeg was one of the world’s fastest-growing grain centers. Winnipeg
was also one of the largest rail centers in North America with twelve lines
passing through the city by 1890 and there were over eighty wholesale
businesses located in the District. Wholesale goods were shipped in from Lake
Superior ports in the spring and grain was shipped out from Winnipeg to the
Lakehead in the fall. The Exchange represented Canada throughout the world and
it largely financed Winnipeg’s growth. Together with a strong world economy
supported by an increase in gold reserves, the Exchange attracted many British
and Eastern Canadian banks, trust, insurance and mortgage companies to the
District to do business.
Through the Winnipeg Grain
Exchange, the city was linked to other major financial centers of London, Liverpool,
New York and Chicago. Most Canadian financial institutions established their
Western Canadian headquarters in Winnipeg and by 1910 there were almost twenty
banking halls and offices on Main Street between City Hall and Portage Avenue.
Many Winnipeg-based financial companies were also established.
Most Victorian buildings in
Winnipeg were later replaced by larger structures that would serve its
expanding businesses. The Victorian grouping on Princess Street is one of the
best examples of such buildings in Winnipeg while others can be found on Main
Street north of the District. Many Victorian buildings are Italianate in style
and are constructed of heavy wood post and beam (some including fireproof iron
columns) with heavily detailed masonry load-bearing walls, variously arched
windows and metal or corbelled brick cornices.
Some of the finest warehouses in
North America based on an American Romanesque style can be found in Winnipeg.
The Romanesque warehouses are typically of heavy wood post and beam construction
with foundations of large rough-faced stone blocks set with deep, recessed
joints (called rustication) and brick walls with piers and stone spandrels to
support heavy loads. The Romanesque or round-head arch is used in the tunnels
through the buildings which provided for protected loading and unloading of
goods within, and in the large windows which provided natural light to the
interior before electric light was affordable.
181 Higgins Avenue – The Canadian Pacific Railway Station was erected in 1904-05 and it continued in use as a rail passenger terminus until 1978. Its monumental Beaux Arts facade, elaborate Tyndall stone decoration and extensive facilities reflected both the aspirations of the railway and Winnipeg’s place as the center of transportation and commerce in early twentieth century Western Canada.678 Main Street – The Dominion Bank Building is one of the first branches established by a chartered bank outside Winnipeg’s primary financial district, in this case to capitalize on commercial development near the Canadian Pacific Railway Station. It is an excellent example of Beaux-Arts Classical architecture applied on a reduced scale but still conveying an image of corporate tradition and solidity. An enriched facade made extraordinary by fluted Ionic columns and dark-hued terracotta, along with an ornate banking hall, express the building’s functional and symbolic importance and its aesthetic kinship with the monumental bank headquarters built in the same period further south on Main Street. It was occupied by the Dominion (later Toronto-Dominion) Bank until the early 1980s.456 Main Street –The Bank of Toronto is a three-story steel, concrete and brick structure erected in 1905-06 in Winnipeg’s financial district. It is an arresting Neo-Classical structure with a rare two-part facade of marble and cast iron. Key elements of the style include the basic rectangular form of steel, concrete and brick construction, three stories high with a stepped roof line reflecting the presence of a penthouse. The elegant front (east) colonnade is composed of four white marble Corinthian columns, the outer two square and smooth, the inner two round and fluted resting on shoulder-high bases and extending to a large decorative entablature with a modillioned cornice and a high segmented balustrade. The recessed cast-iron facade features elaborate main-floor screens encasing the entrance and windows, with the two upper levels separated by ornamental friezes and cornices and holding rectilinear Sullivanesque openings with top and side lights. The intricate detailing throughout includes cast-iron geometric designs, banding, panels, frets, floral elements, and marble egg-and-dart molding and beading.441 Main Street at Bannatyne Avenue – The richly appointed Imperial Bank of Canada, a three-story steel, brick and stone banking hall and office building erected in 1906, occupies an important corner site in Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District. The Imperial Bank is an exceptional version of the Classical Revival style, designed by noted Toronto-based architects Darling and Pearson. Key external elements that define the building’s rich Classical Revival style include its rectangular plan, three-story box-like form around a steel frame and flat roof embellished by a complete entablature with modillioned cornice and plain parapet. Grey Bedford, Indiana, ashlar limestone is used on the two primary elevations (south and west). The primary facade (west) is symmetrical and features a two-story recessed entrance bay framed by two massive fluted Ionic columns; there is a simple arrangement of windows on the third-floor level with small rectangular windows and side bays dominated by large mezzanine-level openings with elaborate pseudo-balconies (complete with balustrades, brackets, and pediments).436 Main Street – The Bank of British North America, constructed in 1903-04, is a three-story steel frame, brick and sandstone structure with a one-story 1914 addition. To outshine the bank’s nearby competitors, architect A.T. Taylor of Montreal gave the building a grand Neo-Palladian sandstone front, complete with an Ionic colonnade and, for Winnipeg, a rare vermiculated (wavy lines or markings resembling the tracks of a worm) base. The impressive, highly visible edifice, long occupied by the Royal Trust Company, then by lawyers Newman, MacLean and Associates, retains considerable exterior design integrity while continuing in contemporary commercial use. Key elements that define the bank’s fine Neo-Palladian architecture include the elongated three- and one-story rectangular massing, with the main (east) facade of vermiculated and ashlar sandstone, the other elevations of solid brick and a flat roof, all around a structural steel frame.180 Market Avenue East at Main – The Winnipeg Pantages Playhouse Theatre is among the best of the vaudeville houses built in Canada between 1913 and 1920 and the first large concrete theater in North America. It was built in 1913. Key exterior elements that define the theater’s specialized Classical Revival (Greek Pantages) style include the rectangular box-shaped form, two stories high at the front and rising in stages toward the rear, constructed of brick and reinforced concrete and enclosed by mostly flat roofs. The front is symmetrically composed of a shallow central pavilion with small wings, and divided into two horizontal bands, with the second story clad in cream-colored terracotta and light buff brick and the street level clad with the same brick and smooth-cut limestone for the foundation. The metal marquee stretching across the front includes a central arch and keystone over the main doors. The second story’s five large windows are set in terracotta surrounds and panels, including three middle openings framed by engaged columns. The complete entablature includes a modillioned metal cornice, with terracotta panels that display the name ‘PANTAGES’ between the words ‘UNEQUALLED’ and ‘VAUDEVILLE’. The double entrance doors have transom windows. Ticket prices were 10¢ and 35¢ with 3 shows a day, 7 days a week. Usually there were six new acts a week and a typical day included a juggler, a song and dance team, an animal act, a comedy skit, a novelty of some sort, and a short film.223 James Avenue – Winnipeg Police Court – Built in 1883 at the corner of James Avenue and King Street, this two-story brick building contained eighteen jail cells adjacent to a large courtroom on the main floor, with offices for court officials on the second floor, and a full attic used as a dormitory for police officers. In 1908, when a new police station opened on Rupert Street, this building was renovated into municipal offices.115 Bannatyne Avenue – The Donald H. Bain Building – 1899 – is composed of two Romanesque Revival style buildings joined by a common wall – a five- and three-story brick structure. Features include solid brick-bearing walls with high rusticated stone bases and flat roof lines with parapets. The symmetrical front facade is divided into five bays by brick detailing and the placement of round-arched and lintelled windows, most of which have rusticated stone heads and sills. Details include the buff-colored brick finishes, fanciful straw basket and corbelled brickwork, thin spandrel panels, and brick drip molding. The round-arched openings have stone voussoirs and keystones on the front main and top floors. Brick pilasters, stone pilaster caps, and a heavily ornamented brick parapet with the date ‘1899’ carved into a stone panel are other heritage features.
In 1799, the Township of Norwich was laid out by surveyor William Hambly into lines and concessions and 200-acre lots.
In
1809, Peter Lossing, a member of the Society of Friends from Dutchess County
New York, visited Norwich Township. In June 1910, with his brother-in-law Peter
de Long, purchased 15,000 acres of land in this area. That fall Lossing brought
his family to Upper Canada. The de Long family and nine others soon joined
them. By 1820 an additional group of about fifty had settled here. These
resourceful pioneers founded one of the most successful Quaker communities in
Upper Canada.
The township was divided into North and South
Norwich Townships in 1855.
In 1975, Oxford County underwent countywide
municipal restructuring. The Village of Norwich and the Townships of East
Oxford, North Norwich and South Norwich were amalgamated to create the Township
of Norwich.
Stover Street – Italianate, hipped roof, two-story bay window, balcony above enclosed front entrance, corner quoins70 Stover Street – Gothic Revival, verge board trim on gables, bay window55 Stover Street – wraparound veranda, paired cornice brackets, decorative cornice, bay windows8 Main Street East – designated – Moore, Chambers House – Gothic, verge board trim on gables, crenelated brick arched veranda with voussoirs and keystones, bay window on side, transom above door16 Main Street East – Gothic – bay window18 Main Street East – Italianate, paired cornice brackets, decorative cornice, corner quoins, pediment with decorated tympanum above Doric pillars, sidelights and transom surround door, bay window on front and side25 Main Street East – Trillium Christian Retirement Home – two-story semi-circular veranda, bay windows, iron cresting, paired cornice brackets, corner quoins69 Main Street West – Italianate, dormer, paired cornice brackets, corner quoins, pediment78 Main Street West – Norwich United Church Manse – two-story white-brick manse was constructed in 1875 – a blocky, Italianate residence with symmetry of paired cornice brackets and twin round-headed windows and doors of second-story90 Main Street West – Gothic
The
Township of Norwich is located in Oxford County in southwestern Ontario.
Pioneering families emigrated from Norwich in upper New York State in the early
19th century. Oxford County Road 59 is the major north–south highway through
much of the township, including the community of Norwich proper. The local
economy is largely agricultural, based on corn, soybean, and wheat production
with dairy farming in the north part of the township and tobacco, vegetable,
and ginseng farming to the south. Slowly, ginseng and traditional cash crops
are replacing the former cash crop – tobacco, as demand shrinks.
In 1799,
the Township of Norwich was laid out by surveyor William Hambly into lines and
concessions and 200-acre lots. The township was divided into North and South
Norwich Townships in 1855.
In 1975,
Oxford County underwent countywide municipal restructuring. The Village of
Norwich and the Townships of East Oxford, North Norwich and South Norwich were
amalgamated to create the Township of Norwich.
Norwich
includes the communities of Beaconsfield, Bond’s Corners, Brown’s Corners,
Burgessville, Cornell, Creditville, Curries, Eastwood, Hawtrey, Hink’s Corners,
Holbrook, Milldale, Muir, Newark, New Durham, Norwich, Oriel, Otterville,
Oxford Centre, Rock’s Mills, Rosanna, Springford, Summerville, Blows, and
Vandecar.
Otterville is a village in Norwich
Township in Oxford County. It is located on the Otter Creek. Otterville was
settled in 1807. Encouraged by local Quakers, free blacks and escaped slaves
fled persecution in the United States and found homes in the Otterville area
beginning in 1829. Otterville African Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery
served the local black community until the late 1880s.
Otterville – 233 Main Street West – Neo-Colonial – gambrel roof, Romanesque-style window voussoirsOtterville – Main Street West – stained glass transomsOtterville – 216 Main Street – dormers, sidelightOtterville – 244 Main Street East – dormer in attic, paired cornice brackets, corner quoins, dichromatic voussoirsOtterville – 249 Main Street East – Gothic – verge board trim on gablesOtterville – 6 Dover StreetOtterville – 225422 Main Street West – Oddy House – constructed in 1861 – Also called Woodlawn Place which is associated with Thomas Wright, a local, prominent inventor who designed and lived in the building in the mid-nineteenth century. Wright was influenced by Dr. Orson Fowler, whose 1853 book, “The Octagonal House –A Home For Allâ€, encouraged the practicality of octagonal dwellings. Fowler argues that these homes were easier to heat and made greater use of the sun’s rays. It is a fine example of the Regency Cottage style of architecture although its octagonal shape makes it unusual. The building is of plank construction with board and batten siding. The overall plan consists of a 45-foot octagon with a 20 foot by 20-foot wing that is situated to form a trapezoidal umbrage at the side of the house. Typical of the Regency style, Woodlawn Place features a wide roof overhang and deep fascia boards. The front door is flanked with sidelights and Doric pilasters, complimented by a simulated entablature above.Burgessville – Church Street – hipped roof, paired cornice bracketsBurgessville – Church Street – Gothic20 Church Street – 2½-story tower-like bay, fretwork
