Behind the Photo: Winnipeg's giant sinkhole of 1925

© 2025, Christian Cassidy

Often I will see an old photo or ad and dig into its back story. Sometimes I find a great story, sometimes not. Either way, I learn a few things about the city's history. Here's my latest attempt:

Winnipeg Free Press Evening Bulletin, April 3, 1925

This image appeared on the front page of the evening edition of the Winnipeg Free Press on April 3, 1925, claiming to show where a "milk wagon was engulfed by cave-in". Was this a century-old version of clickbait to get people to buy the paper and read the story? It wasn't!

The brief accompanying story noted that at around 6:30 on the morning of Friday, April 3, 1925, Albert Brewer was driving his two-horse Crescent Creamery rig down McGregor Avenue when it was swallowed up by a sink-hole at the intersection of Matheson Avenue. 

This photo, credited only to "our Free Press cameraman", shows Brewer standing next to the hole hours later with just the tip of his wagon visible.

Winnipeg Tribune, April 3, 1925

I checked the Winnipeg Tribune from the same day to see if I could compare the story to the Free Press version and there was a similar photo on its front page credited to "Foote and James" showing the sunken wagon. The story was also its main headline that day.

The Tribune story contained more detail and was likely more accurate than the Free Press version as its reporter spoke to Brewer, a dairy representative, and a city hall official. 

Brewer told the Tribune that he was travelling through the intersection of Mattheson and McGregor when "The wagon went down ker-plunk and pulled the horse after it... I thought I was on my way to China." He grabbed the bridle as he scrambled free and called for help. Several people came to assist him extricate it. 

A Crescent Creamery representative told the reporter that about $60 in cream and milk was destroyed and the total damage from the accident was about $100.

A city hall official blamed the sink-hole, estimated at around 12 feet deep, on a leaky storm sewer pipe. The city was in the midst of the spring melt and the storm sewer brought a lot of water into the intersection that eroded the ground around the fault.

Left: Crescent Creamery wagon from 1938 advertisement.
Right: Undated image of its wagon produced by the Lawrie Carriage Company
(from Archives of Manitoba via Virtual Heritage Winnipeg).

The sinking of the wagon must have been terrifying for both horse and driver. As can be seen in the images above, these were substantial vehicles. 

You might think that 1925 was late to have horse-drawn wagons on the streets of the city and you would be correct. Through the 1910s, motorized vehicles exploded in popularity and certainly after the First World War were the dominant form of commercial transport.

Older companies, though, had huge investments in their four-legged workers. Moving companies, department stores, breweries, and dairies had urban stables, rural stables with pastures, and a large roster of drivers, trainers and handlers on staff. For many, the transition from horse to fully motorized transport took years. 

Even after the transition, some companies still kept a small number of teams around even if just for PR or show purposes. A good example of this is Shea's Brewery which was famous for it award-winning Clydesdales. It wasn't until the 1930s when Shea, who was in failing health, sold them on to Anheuser-Busch to become the Budweiser Clydesdales. Eatons retired its last horses in 1951.

April 26, 1926, Winnipeg Tribune

Dairies were one of he last industries to get rid of the horse.

Crescent Creamery was established in 1906 on Lombard Avenue. It bought out Carson's Hygienic Dairy and in 1914 and moved its operations to Carson's Sherburn Street plant. By 1925, it had a large fleet of both motorized vehicles and horse-drawn wagons with the latte doing much of its residential milk deliveries.

Crescent used horses until at least 1949. In a 1953 Free Press story about the retirement of "Old Mack", a Fort Rouge-based dairy delivery horse, it was noted that there were still over 100 dairy horses working on city streets but their numbers were dwindling.

Where was the accident in relation to today's streetscape?

The 2009 Street View photo above shows the only commercial corner at the intersection of McGregor Street and Matheson Avenue. the others are residential. It is likely that this is the modern-day view with a similar looking house in the background indicated by the arrow.

For more "Behind the Photo" posts.