Historic Sites of Manitoba: Franklin Memorial Hall (Franklin, RM of Rosedale)

The Franklin Memorial Hall, at Franklin in the Rural Municipality of Rosedale, was erected in memory of local men killed in the First World War. It was built between 1919 and 1920 by contractor William Wylie of Minnedosa at a cost of about $7,800.

Exterior walls of the wooden building were covered in a veneer of amber-coloured bricks made at the Snyder Brothers Brickyard at Portage la Prairie. Inside, a dance floor was finished with maple and, at the front, a stage featured a large painted-canvas curtain with a scene of mountains, trees, and rivers. Although opened in the Spring of 1920, it was opened officially in January 1921 at a ceremony attended by Lieutenant Governor James Albert Manning Aikins and First World War General Hugh Marshall Dyer.

The hall has continued in use as a regional community centre. Restoration work in 1976 entailed renovating the stage, reinforcing the foundation, and filling its full basement with gravel. A new kitchen and washrooms were added to the east end in 1981. In front of the building is a small obelisk that commemorates five local men killed during military service in the First World War.

In 2012, the Rural Municipality of Rosedale designated it as a municipally-significant heritage building.

Franklin Memorial Hall (August 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Franklin Memorial Hall (September 2023) Source: Kathryn Hyndman Franklin Memorial Hall (October 2024) Source: Rose Kuzina Interior view of Franklin Memorial Hall (August 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Franklin war memorial (July 2011) Source: Christian Cassidy Franklin war memorial (September 2023) Source: Kathryn Hyndman Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.24150, W99.66591 denoted by symbol on the map above

First World War

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
James Ernest Attwood	Engineer	28th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1893	6 November 1917
William Frank Barker	Student	191st Squadron, Royal Air Force	Flight Cadet	1893	13 June 1918
Oscar Roland Kerr [Agricultural College, Neepawa, Wesley College]	Farmer	2nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	7 November 1893	11 February 1916
William McMartin	Farmer	16th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1882	9 April 1917
Russell Robinson	Farmer	13th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	1897	8 October 1916

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Carman Memorial Hall (12 Second Avenue SW, Carman)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

“Franklin's memorial,” Manitoba Free Press, 10 January 1921, page 32.

Rosedale Remembers: 1884-1984 by Rosedale Centennial Committee, 1984, pages 180-182.

For the names of First World War casualities from Manitoba who do not appear on any physical monument in the province, see the Manitoba Historical Society War Memorial. If you know of a name that is omitted from this list, please contact the MHS War Memorial Researcher Darryl Toews (darryl@mhs.mb.ca).

Soldiers of the First World War - Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Veterans Affairs Canada.

Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program (2015-2016).

We thank Kathryn Hyndman and David Ford for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Christian Cassidy and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 16 October 2025

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