Historical Winnipeg discussion

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Biff

Can you imagine still having that roadway just to the east along the tracks at the Forks with those 3 beautiful two story corner buildings. What a great way to start the redevelopment of the Railside Development if they could re-create some of that somehow.

Great photos

You read my mind Biff. That's how they should re-develop the site. Mimic the narrow laneways and put up long 6 storey buildings. Would be awesome I think.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Originally Posted by flatlander

I'm so glad someone has a picture of that!! That's the south elevation of the old Savoy Hotel at Main/Higgins. There was another hotel on that site that came down before the Savoy, revealing the signage - can't remember the name. Neat.

There were four at one time - Manor, Oriental, Scandinavian and Tecumseh (came across this post from 2008).

http://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/Documents...lking-Tour.pdf

Originally Posted by 1ajs

somthing that poped up on new winnipeg forums recently

[EndoftheBeginning]

From the City historical listing report for the old Fort Osborne Barracks (now Asper Community Campus) on Tuxedo - the gates at the entrance and the main building are up for addition to the protected list. Good to see they want to protect what's left of that campus. The western buildings were later used for Manitoba government offices - I remember the provincial Environment department used to be in there.

1921 - Hardly any roads were present, but Tuxedo Ave existed. Mostly empty land at this point.

[BigG]

Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning

From the City historical listing report for the old Fort Osborne Barracks (now Asper Community Campus) on Tuxedo - the gates at the entrance and the main building are up for addition to the protected list. Good to see they want to protect what's left of that campus. The western buildings were later used for Manitoba government offices - I remember the provincial Environment department used to be in there.

1921 - Hardly any roads were present, but Tuxedo Ave existed. Mostly empty land at this point.

Then and now.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.87165...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

[drew]

^ it's cool to see how big that complex used to be.

Also, that house at 1634 Wellington sitting basically all alone in a field.

[plrh]

Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning

From the City historical listing report for the old Fort Osborne Barracks (now Asper Community Campus) on Tuxedo - the gates at the entrance and the main building are up for addition to the protected list. Good to see they want to protect what's left of that campus. The western buildings were later used for Manitoba government offices - I remember the provincial Environment department used to be in there.

1921 - Hardly any roads were present, but Tuxedo Ave existed. Mostly empty land at this point.

I have this similar one from 1923 to provide a different angle. From the Manitoba Air Photo Library.

[EndoftheBeginning]

^ Great photo, thanks for sharing.

[wardlow]

I've never thought of the Fort Osborne Barracks being so densely built up, but I guess it makes sense that it would be in 1921, so soon after the war.

One of those houses seen beyond the Barracks was the home of Archibald Wright, who owned basically all of Tuxedo and what became Assiniboine Park. The house is still standing on Academy Road, and I think its original parts dates back to 1880 or even earlier.

Seeing these photos make me wonder how new residential development (long river lots subdivided and eventually filled in with houses) was paid for back then... Like, to fully service (even by 1920s standards) these thin strips of lots doesn't seem very efficient. Of course now these old gridded streetcar suburbs are all built up and viewed as a smart growth ideal, but I wonder how 'smart' it was to develop this way.

[peg]

Does anyone have any information on the old train bridge in the background? I know it was a part of the Oak Point Subdivision and was abandoned by CN in the early 2000's. And used to have a streetcar line cross over it too. I also know it is a swing bridge as I have been on the bridge and seen the old gears and stuff. I have tried to find out when it was built and if it ever actually swung but can't find anything.

[TimeFadesAway]

Originally Posted by wardlow

Seeing these photos make me wonder how new residential development (long river lots subdivided and eventually filled in with houses) was paid for back then... Like, to fully service (even by 1920s standards) these thin strips of lots doesn't seem very efficient. Of course now these old gridded streetcar suburbs are all built up and viewed as a smart growth ideal, but I wonder how 'smart' it was to develop this way.

Efficiency of subdivision wasn't taken into account as the lots were all originally farms. They were laid out this way (long and thin, 5 to 10 chains wide and 2 to 4 miles deep) in order to maximize river access. This was actually the most efficient way of doing it, everyone had access to drinking water and river transportation and because most built their farmhouses near the river, houses ended up being pretty close together. It's modeled after the seigneurial system used in Quebec and Louisiana.

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by peg

Does anyone have any information on the old train bridge in the background? I know it was a part of the Oak Point Subdivision and was abandoned by CN in the early 2000's. And used to have a streetcar line cross over it too. I also know it is a swing bridge as I have been on the bridge and seen the old gears and stuff. I have tried to find out when it was built and if it ever actually swung but can't find anything.

There was a recent discussion about this in the Facebook group "Manitoba History: A Public Discussion Forum of the MHS".

Built 1907-1908 for the Canadian Northern Railway, it also accommodated pedestrian and vehicular traffic until 1935-36 when the first span of the St. James bridge was opened.

Steamboat traffic on the Assiniboine seems to have ended in 1885, but Federal legislation regulating 'navigable waterways' required swingbridges well after this time. I don't believe this bridge was ever opened. As mentioned, it accommodated streetcars at one time. It is still privately owned by a retired architect (Alec Katz), but there appears to be no plans to do anything with it (like turn it into condos).

[esquire]

^ Considering how shallow the Assiniboine gets a little to the west of there, the thought of boats big enough to justify a swing bridge seems downright absurd.

[drew]

^ they used to dredge the rivers though. Making them artificially deeper.

[Gm0ney]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Considering how shallow the Assiniboine gets a little to the west of there, the thought of boats big enough to justify a swing bridge seems downright absurd.

They could manage in the spring when the water was high for a few weeks. I think steamboats made it surprisingly far down the river - past Brandon.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Gm0ney

They could manage in the spring when the water was high for a few weeks. I think steamboats made it surprisingly far down the river - past Brandon.

That's amazing... I didn't know that.

[Authentic_City]

There’s a book all about the steamboats on the Assiniboine River:

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/info/books/stea...iniboine.shtml

According to this account, In the spring, river boats went all the way to Fort Ellice NW of Brandon, and some even as far as Fort Pelly in Sask.

Also, these pages have some good reading:

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/alpha.shtml

This is a really good read about the SS Alpha and Assiniboine River Steamboats.

http://www.virtualmanitoba.com/FalseStarts/Alpha/

Hard to believe. But the last steamboat on the Assiniboine was 1885. The railroad made steamboat obsolete.

[buzzg]

That's really cool about the old barracks – I obviously new the older big Gray Academy building was historic (didn't know what), but never realized there were 3 older buildings (in that original photo) making up the lobby and office part. And I've been there dozens of times. Awesome.

Katz should donate the bridge to the city for a huge tax writeoff and turn it into an AT bridge, connecting to Wolesely Ave, and fix the Omand's crossing. The "AT" bridge closer to Omand's is ridiculously narrow.

[Andy6]

River levels on the Prairies are much lower now because so much water is drawn off for irrigation. Also, river boats were designed to float on almost nothing.

[Wpg_Guy]

Does anyone know why the office tower at 220 Portage sits on the podium at an angle?


https://scontent.fybz2-1.fna.fbcdn.n...20&oe=5BB4BCD9

[cllew]

Originally Posted by WpG_GuY

Does anyone know why the office tower at 220 Portage sits on the podium at an angle?

Looking at that picture it appears the base is parallel to Portage Ave and the tower is parallel to Main St. as Portage and Main don't meet at a 90 angle.