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SITE #3
MEMORY LANE MINI TOUR
Welcome to stop number three of our historic walking tour. This stop has been set up as a mini tour within our larger tour for those who can not walk the whole tour and contains six panels.
You can scroll down the page and listen to the audio at each site to gain a brief overview of the history of Winnipeg Beach.
As you continue on with the full tour, the individual stops will give you an expanded history of the themes in our mini tour, with many extra photos and videos from the past.
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Coney Island of the North
In 1901, three men arrived on this beach and changed it forever. Sir William Whyte and Captain William Robinson of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) were immediately struck by the beauty of this stretch of sandy beach. They, along with businessman Charles Roland, saw its potential as a premier summer destination for Winnipegers yearning to escape the big city for a while. The CPR bought 330 acres of beachfront property from the settlers who already lived there to develop into a full-service resort. It was to become the ‘Coney Island of the North’, evoking the amusement destination outside of New York City. One year later, the CPR had already extended the rail line north from Selkirk, built a station and dance pavilion, and cleared cottage lots in preparation for what they were sure would be a flood of vacationers. By 1903, the first subdivision was complete with the business section and cottage lots ready to greet the first arrivals that June. This was just the beginning of a project that would define an era and create the town we know today.
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If You Build It, They Will Come … In Droves
The first train rolled into the station in June 1903. The original building was located right along the main street behind you, dropping people into the heart of everything and giving visitors their first views of the lake. The beach and its cottages, dance hall, hotels, and other amenities were immediately popular. Soon, thousands of people were coming to the beach. By 1910, Winnipeg Beach was receiving up to 10 trains a weekend, carrying 40,000 vacationers. The first station couldn’t handle that volume of people, so a second one was built in 1911, a little further away along what is now Stitt St. This hub had six tracks and a 17-foot wide boardwalk that funneled passengers to the pavilion. Life on the beach revolved around the train. The ‘Daddies Train’ carried fathers from their jobs in Winnipeg to arrive at the beach in time for a late supper. Another train left at 7:20 am on Monday to take them back to work. The ‘Moonlight Special’ arrived from Winnipeg every night except Sunday just before 8:00 pm, letting out hundreds of revellers to dance the night away until the whistle blew at fifteen minutes to midnight.
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Dance Hall Days
Winnipeg Beach was built on a love of dance. Dancing was incredibly popular in the early 1900s. Before the first train even rolled into town, the CPR had built a dance pavilion. The two-story building could accommodate 2,500 dancers and boasted electric lights by 1907, as well as a restaurant and a confectionary. Popular with both locals and tourists alike, the pavilion was the beating heart of the beach and a huge draw for the growing resort town. It was so popular in fact, that they had to replace it with an even larger building, turning the original one into a hospital. June 1924 saw the largest dance hall in Western Canada open to the public. A veritable palace, dancers could take a turn around the enormous wood floor for 5 cents a dance or a dozen for 50 cents. Couples could then enjoy romantic views of the lake from the second-floor balconies. While many would retire for the night at one of the town’s hotels, cottages, or rooming houses, a large contingent would have come up for the night. Those revellers headed home to Winnipeg at midnight on the Moonlight Express.
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Winnipeg’s Playground
By 1907, Winnipeg Beach was the place to be for Winnipeggers looking for sun, sand, and socializing. Families and groups of all kinds flooded the beach to swim and play in the sun. Visitors could rent bathing suits and towels from the bathhouse for 10 to 25 cents an hour. Adventurous souls could slide down the water chute into the lake. The CPR was hosting up to three picnics a day by this point, catering to families and corporate clients alike. Everything was provided, from table linens to cutlery, and getting there on the train was half of the fun. Still, the owners of Beach Attractions, who worked on behalf of the CPR, felt they needed more to entertain the throng of visitors. In 1915, they created an amusement park near the dance pavilion. The attractions included a merry-go-round, movie theatre, billiards, and shooting gallery. They later moved it to where you are currently standing now and added bumper cars, a plane ride, a bowling alley, and pony rides. In 1919, the jewel of the park, the Big Dips roller coaster, opened to the public. The wooden structure took thrill seekers 80 feet (24 m) into the air before hurtling them along 3000 feet (914 m) of track. All of these attractions required armies of people to staff them, so the community of seasonal residents grew up around the periphery of the park.
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Camps, Cottages, and Classy Hotels
From the beginning, Winnipeg Beach attracted all walks of life and the CPR and local businesses made sure everyone was accommodated. The first hotel, the King Edward, opened in 1903, ready to greet arrivals before the first train arrived. It was joined a few years later by the Alexandra and Waldorf that catered to higher-end clients. In 1908, the Empress opened along the beach and quickly became the place for wealthy socialites to see and be seen. Located right next to the Pavilion, the hotel boasted three stories of screened-in verandas and the most lavish bar in western Canada. The Empress was also the site of very popular Sunday evening concerts put on by the manager and co-owner Edward Windebank and his wife. They were always a hit with both visitors and locals. Campers were welcomed by various vacation parks. These eventually accommodated car camping once automobiles became more popular. The CPR also leased lots and sold cottages to those looking for a more permanent foothold in the community. By 1925, there were over 200 cottages in the now-incorporated town, each with its own whimsical name. Many of these cottages still exist today, often passed down through generations or lovingly maintained by new owners.
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And Time Rolls On …
The railway resort was a smashing success that couldn’t be sustained. The first automobile rolled into town in 1913, an omen of the changes that were coming. It took a few years for roads to be improved, but soon tourists and cottagers were driving to the beach. The next big change was the loss of the Empress Hotel to fire in 1935. It was a huge blow to the community and cut off Winnipeg Beach from the socialite set who had brought a lot of money into the town. Travel restrictions during World War II only served to dampen business even further. After the war, fewer trains rolled into town. The dance craze had fizzled and Winnipegers were exploring other destinations in their new cars. The CPR saw the writing on the wall and sold off the attractions in 1952. The last train rolled out of the station on Labour Day 1960. After that, the decline was quick. The park and pavilion closed in 1966 and were demolished only a few years later. The Manitoba Government breathed new life into the site, designating it a provincial park in 1968 and developing it into the premier beach and camping site it is today. The rattle of the roller coaster and the roar of the crowds may have faded into the past, but Winnipeg Beach has never lost what made it special in the first place - its idyllic beauty!
If you have any personal photos of this historic tour stop, please take a picture of them with your phone and email them to: winnipegbeachhistory@gmail.com
