This is part one of a three part series on the history of Burnell Street in Winnipeg. I am looking at the section from Portage Avenue north to Ellice (see map).
Photos: My photo album of Burnell Street
Oddson's Burnell Street Projects 1909 - 1914
Much of the residential development we see along Burnell Avenue from Ellice to Portage is thanks to Thorsteinn Oddson. Between 1904 - 1914 he collected a number of large parcels of land. Some of it he sold off for factories and on others he built various styles of multifamily dwellings that housed hundreds of people.
Heimskringla, June 7, 1906
Thorsteinn Oddson was born on December 6, 1864 in Husavik, Iceland, a remote fishing village on the north east coast of Iceland. He was the youngest of eight children from a sheep farming family. Though he had little formal education, Oddson trained as a carpenter. In 1886 married Rakel and two years later the couple emigrated to the Selkirk, Manitoba area.
Though their offices were located downtown, first on Main Street across from Union Station then in the old Tribune Building on McDermot Avenue, the company concentrated almost solely on the West End. Homes and residential lots along streets such as Spence, Maryland, Sherbrook, Toronto etc..
Oddson wasn't just a seller of West End property, he was a buyer as well. In 1905 he purchased the lot at 448 Sherbrook Street, (the first site of the St. Matthews Mission, forerunner to the current St. Matthews Church, a West End landmark). There, he built Oddson House where he and Rakel raised seven children, sons Leifur and Thoroddur and daughters Olaf, Laura, Clara (who died as a child), another Clara and Rakel, named after her mother.
In 1907 the partners went their separate ways and a new company emerged. Initially Oddson and Company, it became Oddson and Son when eldest son Leifur joined him then Oddson and Sons when Thor joined.
The company continued to sell real estate, though Oddson soon turned is hand to developing a number of parcel of land that he had been buying up on St. Paul Avenue and Burnell Street south of Ellice Avenue. Between 1909 - 1914 Oddson built seven buildings on this two-block stretch of road. He was the architect, developer and manager of his properties.
His first project was Claremont Court (1909) on the the north east end side of Burnell near Ellice. It consisted of two long, single storey buildings each divided into five small "cottages". The buildings faced each other and had a 50 foot grassed courtyard in between.
The following year he turned his attention to St. Paul Avenue, a short side street that connects Burnell to Arlington. Along the north side he built St. Paul Terrace in 1910 (top), an eight unit terraced complex. The following year came the "triplets" Kolbrun, Kelona and Komoka.
In 1914 it was Thelmo Mansions, his largest and, it seems, his final self-developed property. It had 78 small suites that used roll-out beds and built-in closets and bureaus to maximize floorspace.
What was clear with these developments is that he was catering to working families, (he was considered to be liberal and advertized regularly in labour papers like The Voice.) The Claremont and the "triplets", for instance, advertised one and two bedroom units, though they were just 600 square feet in size.
Though small, the apartments were well appointed and all featured some sort of green space.
It's my belief that at least two of the large industrial sites developed along Burnell at the time were on land that Oddson sold off. The Canada Bread factory and stables (1912) was just metres from St. Paul Avenue and the Crescent Creamery Ice Cream Plant (1913-14) adjacent to Claremont Court. Neither of those pieces of land had existing housing on them at the time they were sold.
March 18, 1911, Manitoba Free Press
These were not the only properties that Oddson had a stake in.
In 1909 he partnered with James Dagg to buy a 190 acre parcel of land that they marketed as Golden Gate Park subdivision located near Moray and Portage. Strangely, in a couple of ads he marketed lots along Burnell / St. Paul / Livinia (St. Matthews) as part of Golden Gate Park, (perhaps this was a production error error ?)
There were other apartments such as the Haslemere on Ellice, the Coronado on Furby off of Ellice, and the Harrow at Grosvenor and Harrow, though these blocks were all likely purchased by Oddson rather than developed from scratch.
Oddson was a leader and supporter of the Icelandic community and said to be generous and willing to lend a hand to those in need. In 1913 he donated the land and built the Skjaldborg Lutheran Orthodox Church on Burnell just north of Ellice. He was also vice president of Columbia Press which printed Lögberg, an Icelandic-language weekly newspaper that is still in operation today.
In 1913 he donated the Oddson Shield, the championship trophy for team sports given out at Islendingadagurinn until the late 1960s.
Like many Icelanders, Oddson was a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The Swedish-based temperance organization was very popular in North America, the Icelandic community had their own chapter and IOGT hall located at 635 Sargent Avenue.
Oddson, like many other developers, ran into financial trouble during World War I and had to sell of his real estate holdings, including Golden Gate Park. Oddson and Sons continued on until the early 1920s but, it seems, did not develop any new properties.
Thorsteinn and Rakel Oddson retired to Los Angeles in the early 1920s.
Thorsteinn died at their home at 112 Hobart Boulevard on Friday, August 4, 1934 at the age of 69. Rakel died in Los Angeles in December 1938 at the age of 77. The last of their children, daughter Rakel, died in Winnipeg on March 19, 1979.
Sources:
Aside from numerous newspaper sources, bios of Thorsteinn Oddson can be found at
The Story of Manitoba and Catholic Centennial Souvenir.
July 17, 1909, Manitoba Free Press
His first project was Claremont Court (1909) on the the north east end side of Burnell near Ellice. It consisted of two long, single storey buildings each divided into five small "cottages". The buildings faced each other and had a 50 foot grassed courtyard in between.
The following year he turned his attention to St. Paul Avenue, a short side street that connects Burnell to Arlington. Along the north side he built St. Paul Terrace in 1910 (top), an eight unit terraced complex. The following year came the "triplets" Kolbrun, Kelona and Komoka.
In 1914 it was Thelmo Mansions, his largest and, it seems, his final self-developed property. It had 78 small suites that used roll-out beds and built-in closets and bureaus to maximize floorspace.
What was clear with these developments is that he was catering to working families, (he was considered to be liberal and advertized regularly in labour papers like The Voice.) The Claremont and the "triplets", for instance, advertised one and two bedroom units, though they were just 600 square feet in size.
Though small, the apartments were well appointed and all featured some sort of green space.
It's my belief that at least two of the large industrial sites developed along Burnell at the time were on land that Oddson sold off. The Canada Bread factory and stables (1912) was just metres from St. Paul Avenue and the Crescent Creamery Ice Cream Plant (1913-14) adjacent to Claremont Court. Neither of those pieces of land had existing housing on them at the time they were sold.
March 18, 1911, Manitoba Free Press
March 18, 1911, Manitoba Free Press
In 1909 he partnered with James Dagg to buy a 190 acre parcel of land that they marketed as Golden Gate Park subdivision located near Moray and Portage. Strangely, in a couple of ads he marketed lots along Burnell / St. Paul / Livinia (St. Matthews) as part of Golden Gate Park, (perhaps this was a production error error ?)
There were other apartments such as the Haslemere on Ellice, the Coronado on Furby off of Ellice, and the Harrow at Grosvenor and Harrow, though these blocks were all likely purchased by Oddson rather than developed from scratch.
Oddson was a leader and supporter of the Icelandic community and said to be generous and willing to lend a hand to those in need. In 1913 he donated the land and built the Skjaldborg Lutheran Orthodox Church on Burnell just north of Ellice. He was also vice president of Columbia Press which printed Lögberg, an Icelandic-language weekly newspaper that is still in operation today.
In 1913 he donated the Oddson Shield, the championship trophy for team sports given out at Islendingadagurinn until the late 1960s.
Like many Icelanders, Oddson was a member of the Independent Order of Good Templars. The Swedish-based temperance organization was very popular in North America, the Icelandic community had their own chapter and IOGT hall located at 635 Sargent Avenue.
Source: The Story of Manitoba
Oddson, like many other developers, ran into financial trouble during World War I and had to sell of his real estate holdings, including Golden Gate Park. Oddson and Sons continued on until the early 1920s but, it seems, did not develop any new properties.
August 24, 1934, Winnipeg Free Press
Thorsteinn and Rakel Oddson retired to Los Angeles in the early 1920s.
Thorsteinn died at their home at 112 Hobart Boulevard on Friday, August 4, 1934 at the age of 69. Rakel died in Los Angeles in December 1938 at the age of 77. The last of their children, daughter Rakel, died in Winnipeg on March 19, 1979.
Sources:
Aside from numerous newspaper sources, bios of Thorsteinn Oddson can be found at
The Story of Manitoba and Catholic Centennial Souvenir.
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