West End Street Oddities Part 3: Why is the end of Dominion Street barricaded?

© 2025, Christian Cassidy

For part three of my West End Street Oddities series, I cross Portage Avenue into Wolseley and head down to the south end of Dominion Street at the Assiniboine River where you will find a barricade across the street. Beyond it are three houses at street level on the east side, (numbers 445, 443, and 441) and where the roadway should be is a sharp drop down to a greenspace that requires stairs to access.

At first, I thought this might be a remnant of some old civic infrastructure project. Perhaps the foundation of a pedestrian bridge across the river that never materialized or the site of a long-gone storm sewer surge tank that regulated water flow into the river.

It turns out that this is the work of Mother Nature.

The 1959 Slump

June 10, 1959, Winnipeg Free Press

The riverbank at the foot of Dominion Street was eroding through the 1950s. In 1959, a major slump badly damaged the end of the street and the two properties nearest the river.

The house at 443 Dominion, second from the end, had most of its front yard torn away exposing the underground sewer and water pipes that led to it. Things were worse at number 441 which lost almost its entire front and side yard and its connecting pipes were ruptured.

The city did some emergency repairs. The exposed and damaged sewer pipes were patched and a hose was run from the nearest fire hydrant to provide number 441 with water. A wooden trestle was run between the two properties to give number 441 access to the sidewalk that ran to Wolseley Avenue.

The condition of the street and the debate over the fate of the properties made the news in June 1959. 

September 18, 1959, Winnipeg Free Press

Legally, the city said it had no responsibility for the properties. Riverbank erosion is a natural occurrence and riverside landowners were on their own when it came to resolving the damage that resulted from it.

Some city councillors argued that the city had a moral responsibility and for weeks the city's Public Works committee discussed a range of remediations from rebuilding the lost land to expropriating and tearing down the most impacted properties.

Things came to a head in September 1959 when an expropriation notice was prepared for 441 Dominion, though it didn't make it to a City Council meeting for final approval.

Another hearing about the properties was held by the committee on September 23, 1959 where the lawyer representing the property owner at number 441 threatened to sue the city if it didn't provide sewer and water to the property. That drew the ire of some committee members and he apologised for his comments. 

Another delegation was Mrs. Ann Tucker of 443 Dominion who asked if she could be allowed new underground sewer and water pipes connected to her house via her neighbour's front yard at her own expense. The committee approved her request.

July 24, 1984, Winnipeg Free Press

The Dominion Street issue disappeared from newspaper coverage after that September meeting and the details of how the issues were resolved is not clear.

The two properties still stand, so they very likely got their new sewer and water connections through the front lawn of number 445. The street was closed off with a barricade between number 447 and 445 Dominion, and a stairway was built to lead down to the greenspace. The city also built a wooden retaining wall near the properties to prevent further bank slippage.

The story next appeared in the news in July 1984 after the city's Works and Operations department announced that it would fund a new engineering study of the area as some had claimed there was continued slippage and signs that the 1959 retaining wall was beginning to disintegrate.

The owner of number 441 appeared before the Works and Operations committee and told them that in the late 1960s, he had to install a new concrete foundation under his house as the stone foundation was being pulled apart. He thought the the city should compensate him for the work he had done.

There was no news coverage about the findings of the engineering report but the city's Board of Commissioners did prepare a report for City Council in November that stated there were no signs of new slippage on the land when historical aerial photographs were compared to modern ones. The report concluded that the city should stick to its long-standing policy and "assume no liability for bank stability problems on privately owned lands."

Two of the property owners again threatened possible legal action for damages in December 1959 and after that, the issue disappeared from newspapers.

The 1913 Street Extension

February 16, 1899, Brandon Sun

Why did such a major slump happen only at the end of Dominion Street and not at neighbouring streets?  I went back in newspaper archives to the time the street was created to find an answer.

Dominion Street from Portage Avenue to the Assiniboine River ran adjacent to Happyland amusement park and was once home to the huge greenhouses and growing fields of  Jubilee Nursery. The company was created in the late 1890s by Robert Alston who sold the company, but not the land, to Ueberrhein and Smith in 1904.

July 7, 1906, Winnipeg Tribune

In the summer of 1906,  Alston began marketing fifty-foot lots in "Caragana Place" which comprised of a "Dominion Street" with a back lane on either side.

This was a land speculation scheme as a formal roadway would not have existed this early and city utilities such as sewer, water and electricity were not in place. Lots would have been sold to speculators and builders to hold onto until they were ready to develop. At that time, they could flip the lots or build houses on them.

Many of the homes on Dominion Street were built between 1909 (nearer Portage Avenue) and 1912 (nearer Wolseley Avenue).

June 13, 1913, Winnipeg Free Press
(right click, view image in new tab for larger version)

The section of Dominion Street between Wolseley Avenue and the Assiniboine River was not in the original plans for Caragana Place nor was it on the original city survey. Instead, it was intended to have several houses facing Wolseley that backed onto the river, just like the rest of the neighbourhood to the west of it. 

It wasn't until a company called the West End Realty and Building Co. bought the land and in 1913 convinced the city to let it extend Dominion Street to the river.

In the long classified ad above, the company noted that it had permits to build houses on 26 lots on Dominion Street that year and that "In removing the earth from the excavation of the foundation of these houses we are able to fill a large portion of the bank (at the end of Dominion Street), giving it an additional 30 feet which is being parked. This will be held securely and the river bank protected from future erosion by means of a retaining wall which is now being built."

It goes on to say that the park would be gifted to the city.

May 31, 1913, Winnipeg Free Press

A related Winnipeg Free Press story on May 31, 1913, noted that the land was already being cleared and graded to make way for the street extension and that piledriving had begun for the retaining wall at the river's edge.

The park at the end of the street was expected to have benches, lights, and a metal staircase down to the water's edge at the developer's expense and would be gifted to the city once the work was done. In exchange, the city agreed to cover the cost of running sewer and water to the extension.

The story concluded that once completed, "... Dominion Street (will be) one of the finest residential streets in the city and one of the few streets with direct access to the river, while it will be the only street on which provision has been made for the public in this manner."

The houses were constructed and the park was completed. It is likely this extension failed and helped bring about the slump of 1959.

The Greenspace

It is unclear what became of the park and river access created by West End Realty and Building Company in 1913 but it is likely that it disappeared over time. This was discovered in a series of news stories about the fencing off of private land adjoining the park in 1980.

According to the stories, by the early 1970s there wasn’t much of a park or riverfront access at the foot of Dominion Street.

Izzy Asper, the provincial Liberal leader at the time, was elected as the MLA for Wolseley in 1971 and saw the need for a proper park at this location He donated what he thought to be around $8,000 of his salary to “make it a park” by having the land graded, grass added, and a staircase built to the river’s edge. For its part, the city agreed to add benches and mow the grass on the site.

In 1974, Asper brokered a $1 per year lease agreement between the city and the residential property owner on the east side of the city land to create a wider greenspace. When the lease deal ended in 1979, the new owner did not want to continue with the public access and in the spring of 1980, a fence was built along the property line that stopped 30 feet short of the river’s edge.

Asper left office in 1975 but was interviewed by the Winnipeg Tribune during the 1980 fence brouhaha. He said, "Frankly I am quite upset. That was my only tangible monument to my tenure as MLA for Wolseley."

August 22, 2019, CBC Winnipeg

Fast forward forty years and there is a case of déjà vu when the fencing off of the same private land adjacent to the city greenspace returned to the news. 

According to this CBC report, a city spokesperson said that the city had reached another $1 per year lease agreement with the property owner from 1986 to 2009. When it expired, the property owner did not want to renew it and nine years later built the fence.

May 30, 1906, Winnipeg Tribune

Related

-  The house at 441 Dominion Street is hard to see even at street level, but luckily it is currently for sale. See pictures inside and out in this Realtor's listing or in this video.
- West End Street Oddities Part 1: How many lanes does Arlington Street have?
- West End Street Oddities Part 2: Why does Valour Road have no boulevard trees?

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.

Celebrating Manitoba's Black History

Over the years, I have written a number of blog posts and columns highlighting prominent people and places in the history of Manitoba's Black community. Here they are all in one place!

At the Black History Manitoba website you can find out more about upcoming events and projects.

Percy Haynes is one of my favourite personalities from Winnipeg's past. He was a star athlete, celebrated musician, the first Black to serve in the Royal Canadian Navy, and an all-around community leader. He is best remembered for Haynes' Chicken Shack, the long-time Lulu Street restaurant / night spot that played host to the likes of Harry Belafonte and Oscar Peterson.

- Percy Haynes West End Dumplings (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- 257 Lulu Street Winnipeg Places
- Farewell to 257 Lulu Street West End Dumplings

Billy Beal was a renaissance man who settled in the Swan River region in 1906. He was the long-time secretary of the local school division, an amateur astronomer, the doctor's helper, and ran the region's first library using his own vast collection of books.

- Swan River's Billy Beal (an expanded version in the Free Press)
- Every inch a Gentleman Winnipeg Free Press
- On the trail of Billy Beal West End Dumplings

George Beckford seemed reluctant to become a railway porter, one of the few jobs dominated by Blacks in early Winnipeg. In the end, he spent 34 years with the CNR and became a respected local labour leader.

- Labour Leader George Beckford
- Longtime porter became labour leader, pillar of black community Winnipeg Free Press

Reverend Dr. Joseph T. Hill was a southern American preacher who spent many summers as a popular guest preacher at predominantly White churches in Winnipeg in the 1920 and 1940s. He is credited with founding Pilgrim Baptist, Winnipeg's first Black church.

- Rev. J. T. Hill, his Winnipeg summers, and the founding of Pilgrim Baptist Church

Winnipeg's Aaron Black Jr. is often overlooked when celebrating early Black hockey pioneers largely becasue he spent his career in the WHA, not the NHL. He is considered the second Black professional hockey player and the first to score a hat trick at the pro level.

- Aaron Black Jr.: The second Black professional hockey player

Photographer L. B. Foote took this photo of the Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg on the front steps of the Bank of Montreal Building at Portage and Main in 1922. I was curious to find out the back story of what turned out to be a short-lived part of Winnipeg's musical history.

- Behind the Photo: Railway Porters' Band of Winnipeg West End Dumplings

The nondescript Craig Block on Main Street is one of the few remaining buildings directly associated with Winnipeg's early Black community. In 1922, it became home of the locally organized Order of Sleeping Car Porters which some believe is the first Black union in North America. Other Black organizations joined it and the building became a community hub.

- Craig Block, 795 Main Street Winnipeg Places

Many Black celebrities have dropped in on Winnipeg over the decades. Here is the back story of some of these visits.

- Duke Ellington, Omar Williams, and their Banning St. jam session West End Dumplings
- The day Sammy Davis Jr. came to town West End Dumplings
- Jesse Owens at Osborne Stadium (an expanded version in the Free Press)

Farewell, Sutherland Hotel, and maybe the Craig Block, too?

The Craig Block (left) and Sutherland Hotel in 2010

It is sad to see that he Sutherland Hotel suffered a major fire yesterday. Another missing tooth for that stretch of Main Street and another potential source of much-needed affordable housing gone. 

To read more about the Sutherland Hotel, which started off life as the ca. 1882 Cosmopolitan Hotel.

I imagine the neighbouring Craig Block could also be a loss.

It is one of the most important buildings left in the city that tells the story of the city’s early Black community. In 1922, it became home to the Order of Sleeping Car Porters. Locally organized, some believe it to be North America's first Black union as it was created three years before its U.S. counterpart.

Over the decades, many black businesses and organisations have called it home.

To read more about the Craig Block.

Nellie Counsell, Winnipeg's contralto sensation

© 2024 Christian Cassidy

If you were a music enthusiast in Winnipeg in the early 1900s, chances are that you saw Helen "Nellie" Campbell, (later Mrs. E. M. Counsell), perform. The contralto soloist was a fixture on Winnipeg stages and churches for over 25 years.

Helen "Nellie" Gertrude Campbell was born June 28, 1877, in Middlesex, Ontario, Canada and came to Winnipeg in 1893 with her family. She finished her schooling at the Collegiate Institute on Kate Street.

June 1, 1895, Winnipeg Tribune

Campbell began singing at school recitals and by 1894 was a soloist in the Knox Church choir performing regularly at its services and special concerts.

A Free Press reviewer wrote of her performances in Handel's Samson in May 1895 at age sixteen,  "Outside of the natural appreciation of her efforts on account of her youth ... her performance exceeded in merit any of the others."

At a February 1895 recital at Manitoba College featuring dozens of actors and singers, the Tribune reported that "the lion's share of the applause was accorded to Miss Nellie Campbell for her very excellent vocal selection". 

Campbell was a sensation and had a packed schedule of weekly church services, which included at times travelling to Presbyterian churches outside of Winnipeg, and various recitals and concerts around town.

October 4, 1897, Winnipeg Tribune

Campbell took a break from singing when she turned 18. The Tribune noted, "The friends of Miss Nellie Campbell are wise in allowing this promising young vocalist to rest for a while.... so that some additional strength may be gained for future study." It said she was on the brink of being a brilliant singer and that the right vocal coach and training at that stage in her life was the key to a long career.  

For some of 1896 and the summer of 1897, Campbell attended the Toronto Conservancy of Music to study under Mr. W. E. Haslam.

Campbell returned in October 1897 and resumed her role as the feature soloist at Knox Church. Later that month, she was part of a concert at the Winnipeg Theatre featuring violinist Ernest Du Domain, an instructor at the Toronto Conservancy, and local pianist Frida de Tersmeden. She was also part of the program for the big Sons of Scotland Halloween concert at Selkirk Hall.

In 1898, she teamed up with a local pianist and two other singers as the Prairie City Quartet and toured from September to November as far west as Victoria to positive reviews.

November 18, 1901. Winnipeg Free Press

1901 was a year of great change for Campbell.

In October, she and her brother announced that they would leave the Knox Church choir. Robert was off to New York to further his musical career as a baritone and Nellie was to marry Edward M. Counsell, the branch manager of the Merchant's Bank in Carberry.

The wedding ceremony took place on December 5th at Knox Church after which the couple left on a train to visit New York and cities in Eastern Canada and returned in early 1902. Mr. Counsell left the bank in 1903 to start his own real estate and insurance company which brought the couple back to Winnipeg.

Mrs. E. M. Counsell, the name Campbell went by after she married, took a break from her musical career to have children: Charles (1902); Campbell (1904); and Charlotte (1905).

The few exceptions to Counsell's temporary retirement included a variety concert at Grace Church in July 1904 where her brother, Robert also performed. She also performed at the graduating ceremony for the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing in May 1904 and a concert at a Presbyterian church in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1905.

May 4, 1908, Winnipeg Tribune

The Counsells attended Augustine Church where Mrs. Counsell became the soloist. Augustine did not have as large a musical program as Knox, so there were few concerts or recitals outside of regular Sunday services.

Mrs. Counsell did a handful of performances in 1907 and 1908 each year, usually as part of a larger musical program. In May 1908, she sang a composition called "Peace" which was written by American hymn writer and composer Arthur Voorhis and dedicated to Counsell after he heard her sing at a musicale in New York City the previous year.

At a solo recital in Augustine Church on November 24, 1908, there was a standing-room-only crowd to see Mrs. Counsell. Charles Wheeler, the architect and Winnipeg Tribune music reviewer, called her "the very head of the contraltos in the city".

As her children got older, Mrs. Counsell held more performances outside of church circles.

In the 19-teens she participated most years at the Manitoba Music Festival and at several charity events during the war, including another solo recital in January 1916 at the Hotel Fort Garry to raise funds for the Canadian Red Cross.

Mrs. Counsell went on a singing tour to Ottawa, Hamilton and Montreal in late 1917 after which she stayed for a time in New York to study with a "world famed vocal teacher" (whom the newspaper article didn't mention by name). She returned to Winnipeg in time to participate in a Christmas music festival at Young Church.

The Women's Musical Club of Winnipeg's Mrs. C. E. Dafoe presented Mrs. Counsell with a lifetime membership in 1921 and she joined their board as vice-president the following year for their busy 25th anniversary season.

In early 1924, Mrs. Counsell provided the musical entertainment at one of Elsie McLuhan's, (mother of Marshall McLuhan), popular elocution recitals at Nassau Baptist Church. She also performed at a benefit concert to support the Community Theatre in March and was one of two soloists who performed at a twilight recital in St. Luke's Church in April.

The final performance of the year, and perhaps of her public career, appears to have been a joint recital with baritone W. David Thomson under the auspices of the Auxiliary of Manitoba College in St. Stephen's Church on December 9.

Mrs. Counsell became very ill in late 1924. She attended the odd meeting of the Women's Musical Club in 1926 then newspaper mentions of her disappeared, aside from social announcements that she and her husband were travelling to the southern U.S. for the winter months.

July 30, 1929, Winnipeg Free Press

On July 28, 1929, Counsell died at the family home at 278 Wellington Crescent. She was 53 years old.

 In a story about her death, the Free Press wrote, "As a girl she gave so much promise for the future as a vocalist, but was content in her life to sing for the people of this city."

The Tribune quoted an unnamed "prominent citizen" who paid tribute to Counsell, "I do not think there is a public charity of an kind in our city that has not been assisted by Mrs. Counsell. The Old Folks' Home, the hospitals, many smaller institutions, and the art itself - music - she was ever ready to assist."

Helen "Nellie" Counsell is buried in Elmwood Cemetery.

Farewell, Gelyn’s Wedding Lounge

Sad news that long-time Ellice Ave. business Gelyn’s Wedding Lounge is closing. Owner Linda Ramos opened her bakery here in 1978 and died in 2020. See the CTV News story here.

For a history of the building and the many stores and people that have called it home, including local boxer Frankie Battaglia, visit my blog post about 690 Ellice Avenue. 

Winnipeg's civic Christmas tree tradition dates back 99 years

© 2024, Christian Cassidy

Mayor Gillingham lit Winnipeg's civic Christmas tree on November 15th to mark the start of the 2024 holiday season.  As always, the event attracted a small crowd and was greeted with happiness and polite applause.

Lighting a civic Christmas tree at Winnipeg's city hall is a tradition that dates back 99 years to a much darker time in history. Here's a look back at how it began.

December 22, 1915, Winnipeg Tribune.

In December 1915, Winnipeg was facing its second Christmas at war. Thousands of men were fighting overseas and the number of injured and killed in action was mounting with each passing day.

On Tuesday, December 21, 1915, at 7:30 p.m., Mayor Richard Waugh lit Winnipeg's first official civic Christmas tree. It was described in one newspaper article as a 69-foot fir (another article pegged it at closer to 50 feet) with 1,000 to 2,000 red, white, and green lights and decorated with little flags of the allied nations. The Free Press wrote that it would "Stand with majestic stateliness in supreme command of the entrance to the city hall."

The tree was a fundraiser for the Returned Soldiers' Association of Winnipeg, an organisation created six months earlier with the help of Waugh who acted as its first chair.

The Returned Soldiers' Association's first mandate was to look after soldiers who had returned from the war, which in the early years were mostly the injured.

Volunteers met every train carrying soldiers that arrived in the city to provide greetings, tea, and sandwiches, even for those who were continuing further west. (This is a job that Harriet Waugh, the mayor's wife, took very seriously as she attended many of these arrivals at all hours of the day and night.) For those who got off at Winnipeg, automobile rides were arranged to bring them home or temporary lodging was found for those who had no family here and had to start all over.

The organisation also worked with clinics and hospitals to ensure that those who were invalided had companionship and could go on organised patient outings, such as theatre nights or sports days. Over time, it began offering skills training and used its network to find employment opportunities for them.

The second mandate of the organisation was to look after those left behind; the wives and children of the living and the widows and orphans of the dead. Throughout the year they were treated to activities such as theatre outings and picnics, and, if required, extra groceries and other necessities such as coal or wood would be provided.

Christmas was an especially tough time for those left on the home front, particularly the children. As Waugh said at the tree lighting, "Many kiddies will miss their daddies this Christmas and we are going to make them as happy as is possible under the circumstances." 

Undated postcard of civic Christmas tree (City of Winnipeg Archives)

Money was collected for the Returned Soldiers' Association's Christmas appeal through a coin box set up next to the tree. Musical entertainment, such as choirs and the remnants of military bands, were booked through the day and evening to attract people to the city hall square and encourage donations.

By late Christmas Eve, $959 (around $25,500 in today's money) had been collected. This exceeded the expectations of the organisers as they knew wartime household budgets were tight and they were competing against many better-known charities for funds at that time of year.

The money meant that seven tons of food was purchased and delivered to families on Christmas Eve by volunteer drivers.  Each hamper included a bag of flour, a bag of sugar, a bag of oatmeal, a roast of beef, several pounds of sausages, fruits, vegetables, and other grocery items plus some small toys for the children.

In the first run of the day, 109 hampers were delivered. A second, smaller run had to be arranged as drivers were told of other families in need while on their rounds.

December 20, 1915, Winnipeg Tribune

The inaugural civic Christmas tree was a huge success but it almost didn't make it to city hall for the lighting!

The Women's Volunteer Reserve was hosting a Santa Claus party at the CPR's Royal Alexandra Hotel on Main Street at Higgins Avenue on the Saturday evening before the city hall event. When organisers showed up that morning to decorate the ballroom, the Christmas tree they ordered had not arrived.

The women asked around about the missing tree and were informed that there was an extremely large fir lying behind the Industrial Bureau building, which was located near present-day Main Street and Graham Avenue about a mile south of the hotel. A group went to investigate, found no one on duty, and concluded that it must be their tree.

They commandeered several men and a wagon off the street and together they pushed, pulled, and dragged the tree up Main Street causing traffic jams as they went. 

When the party arrived at the hotel, they realised just how big the tree was. It was too long and wide to fit through the front doors. An axe was obtained but before the tree could be cut down to size, officials caught up with them and demanded that the tree be brought back down Main Street to city hall.

Tree on display circa 1929, (commercial postcard image)

The first civic Christmas tree was such a success that in 1916 it was erected ten days earlier on Monday, December 11th and the gathering space around the tree was improved to attract bigger crowds.

The main tree was a little smaller, only 40 feet in height, but it was flanked by two smaller trees and the entire city hall square was lit up with decorations. A canopy was built for the musicians and speakers and Boy Scouts manned the coin box.

The tree lighting ceremony was again led by Mayor Waugh but this time it was also attended by a large gathering of soldiers who did a march past in front of Premier Bracken at Portage and Main. 

December 9, 1916, Winnipeg Tribune

The fund was more popular than ever. Rather than relying on individual donations, many organisations got involved by donating proceeds from plays, movie showings, concerts, bonspiels, hockey games, raffles, dinners, and teas. By the time the tree was lit, there was already $6,000 raised,  around $146,000 in today's money.

The additional money was greatly needed as by Christmas 1916, some 2,500 soldiers had returned from the war and thousands of others were overseas. The additional time allowed for a better coordinated distribution of food and the addition of more toys, some of them made by returned soldiers themselves in special toy workshops.

Circa 1950, City of Winnipeg Archives

The civic Christmas tree tradition lasted until Christmas 1918. By then, the war was over and 8,112 soldiers had returned to the city. Other funds, such as the Christmas Cheer Fund, had grown in size and scope to provide hampers to struggling households and other soldiers' charities and associations took over hosting of Christmas events for families.

The tree was brought back in 1928 by Mayor Daniel McLean and appears to have carried on through the Depression and Second World War until around 1950. Newspaper stories do not mention any fundraising component to these later trees, but the city hall square was decorated and choirs and bands performed.

Civic Christmas tree in new city hall courtyard, 1967 (City of Winnipeg Archives)

Newspaper mentions of a civic Christmas tree disappeared again in 1951, but in 1957 Mayor Stephen Juba combined the lighting of a tree with the lighting of the new downtown Christmas lights.

There was no tree in 1962 and 1963 due to the construction of the current city hall, but it returned in 1964 with the tree originally located inside the new city hall's courtyard and has been an annual event to this day.

A major change to the tradition came in 2019 when the city switched from a natural tree, usually donated by a homeowner who needed it removed from their property, to an artificial one. It originally stood at 28 feet tall but in 2021 the additional bands were added to bring it to the 50-foot mark.

The new tree cost $175,000 and is expected to last for 40 years. It includes more than 8,000 decorations and 64,000 lights.

My related posts and columns:
Downtown's Christmas Lights of 1929 West End Dumplings
Christmas lights display dates back nearly a century Free Press Community Review
Holiday entertaining with the Tribune's Kay Middleton West End Dumplings