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Photos & Coordinates | Sources
Located on the east side of Balmoral Street in Winnipeg, the 2½-storey double-dwelling was designed and built in 1904 by its owner Alex MacBean. It measured 42 feet by 31 feet with a 14 feet by 32 feet rear annex and was completed at a cost of $7,000. It was acquired by the Central Manitoba chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) who converted it into a female boarding house. Named the Frances E. Willard Home to commemorate Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (1839-1898), the international WCTU President (1879-1898), the home was officially opened on 21 March 1905, with matron Sarah A. Wiggins (c1868-?) initially overseeing the 16-bedroom quarters, each with two or three beds each.
Meals tickets and lodgings were available in a variety of packages, along with discounted rates as befit the need. From around May 1906 to May 1907, some 360 girls and women passed through the Willard Home, with 170 of those being transient. Peak capacity was reached in July 1906 with 77 guests. By early 1907, its capacity was exceeded and the WCTU relocated down the street to 473 Balmoral Street. The operation, later renamed the Frances E. Willard Hall, would relocate again in 1924, when that site was sold to the Salvation Army.
In 1907, this duplex reverted to its originally envisioned role as a double-dwelling. It was occupied by John Riordan, a Superintendent of Construction for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, then by realtor Ferdinand A. Tallman in 1908, both of whom resided at 461 Balmoral. Around 1908, the family of educator Richard Ellice [Ellis] Brown moved into 463 Balmoral. By 1909, the Browns occupied both halves of the structure and rented the extra space to lodgers, there being six of them in 1911.
In 1912, the building was converted by MacBean into a six-suite apartment block known as the Johan Block. (MacBean also owned the adjacent Kilmarnock Block, built in 1913.) This building, which by then measured 41 feet by 46 feet, was renovated at a cost of about $4,000.
The building was renamed Johan Court around 1944 and it remained in operation as an apartment block into the 1970s. It was demolished by the early 1980s to make way for the National Research Council Canada facility at 435-445 Ellice Avenue.
Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89417, W97.15211
denoted by symbol on the map above
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 402/1904, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 534/1912, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Charles E. Goad Company fonds, Fire Insurance Plans of the City of Winnipeg - Volume 1 - Sheet 58 - revised August 1906, Library and Archives Canada.
Charles E. Goad Company fonds, Fire Insurance Plans of the City of Winnipeg - Volume 1 - Sheet 58 - revised May 1914, Library and Archives Canada.
1906 Canada census, Library and Archives Canada.
1911 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.
“Miss Willard died today,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 February 1898, page 1.
“Miss Willard's work,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 February 1898, page 6.
“Late Miss Willard,” Winnipeg Tribune, 14 March 1898, page 5.
“Frances E. Willard Home,” Manitoba Free Press, 28 January 1905, page 16.
“Board and rooms at the Frances E. Willard Home,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 February 1905, page 14.
“Frances E. Willard home is opened,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 March 1905, page 18.
“The ladies of the Winnipeg District W.C.T.U. [...],” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 March 1905, page 10.
“Willard Home opened,” Manitoba Free Press, 22 March 1905, page 3.
“Temperance work is prospering,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 May 1905, page 6.
“Local news paragraphs [Willard Home finances good],” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 August 1905, page 10.
“Tribune to Miss Willard,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 February 1906, page 2.
“Church and charity,” Winnipeg Tribune, 4 February 1907, page 4.
“Winnipeg women's work [In memory of Frances Willard],” Manitoba Free Press, 19 February 1907, page 10.
“Women's work,” Manitoba Free Press, 21 February 1907, page 7.
“Coming events [The regular monthly meeting ...],” Winnipeg Tribune, 7 May 1907, page 12.
“W.C.T.U. convention opened yesterday,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 May 1907, page 5.
“Are girls good roomers,” Manitoba Free Press, 17 August 1907, page 48.
“Winnipeg woman's work,” Manitoba Free Press, 31 October 1907, page 7.
“Winnipeg woman's work,” Manitoba Free Press, 25 November 1907, page 9.
“Financial rush to meet payment,” Manitoba Free Press, 14 May 1914, page 22.
“Mrs. S. Foster is buried today,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 August 1924, page 5.
“Pioneer woman dead,” Manitoba Free Press, 16 August 1924, page 5.
“Mrs. W. H. Jenkins is President of local W.C.T.U.,” Winnipeg Tribune, 1 October 1925, page 6.
“Major project for city hinted as butdget item,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 April 1983, page 3.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
We thank Gordon Goldsborough for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 1 April 2023
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