The water supply for the City of St. Boniface originally came from five wells. In 1904, a new facility consisted of a pumping station and 140-foot “elevated tank” with a capacity of 100,000 gallons to maintain a constant water supply and boost pressure in the city’s 12 miles of water mains. In 1913, St. Boniface joined with Winnipeg, Transcona, St. Vital, part of Kildonan, part of St. James, and part of Fort Garry to form the Greater Winnipeg Water District to procure a reliable and safe supply of drinking water. Between 1913 and 1919, they constructed the 97-mile Shoal Lake Aqueduct from Lake of the Woods to Winnipeg. When it was finished, a 24-inch pipe routed water from the aqueduct to the St. Boniface tank. The current water tower in St. Boniface is not the original one, but one erected in 1936 (and enlarged in 1945) to replace it. The entire facility (pumping station and water tower) was taken out of service in the 1970s and the pumping station was demolished. The water tower, with “City of St. Boniface emblazoned on its side,” is a municipally-designated historic site.
St. Boniface Waterworks Tower (September 2017)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89269, W97.10146
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
Former St. Boniface Waterworks Pumping Station and Water Tower (552 Plinguet Street), Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, May 2001.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 January 2020
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