A two-storey wooden building on the west side of Edmonton Street in Winnipeg is believed to be the oldest residence in the city's downtown core, built around 1888. Its initial occupants are unknown but, in 1888, it was occupied by John Williams (1858-?), his wife Eliza Williams (1860-?), and their seven children. The Williams family moved out in 1913.
The single-family home became a rooming house, probably to accommodate the many single people who were flooding into western Canada before the First World War. Ownership changed frequently until 1938 when a one-storey addition was constructed and the whole structure was turned into a medical supply store.
That store moved out in 1959 and subsequent occupants included a realty company and travel agency. Starting in 1973, it began its long association with the restaurant industry. In the early 1970s, it was a steakhouse, then a French café. In the 1980s, it hosted a couple of Indigenous restaurants, then a pizza joint. Its present occupant, an Asian restaurant called Ming Court, opened in 1987.
Ming Court Restaurant with the former Williams house at right (June 2020)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89077, W97.14664
denoted by symbol on the map above
1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
236 Edmonton Street - Ming Court Restaurant by Christian Cassidy, Winnipeg Places.
This page was prepared by George Penner and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 9 November 2024
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