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3. Profiles
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Highlights from Notable Photographers
To the historian on a mission searches through the museums and local
history volumes that preserve the history of the Southwest Corner, the
images that accompany the stories are a treasure. Looking through those
images, especially the ones from the first decade of the 20th century,
certain names keep appearing. Photos bearing the inscription of
Bates, Geo. Durrant, P.F. Edwards, McArter. Osborne and the Winnipeg
Photo Co. are prominent.
William John Bates
(Baldur, Fairfax, Alexander,
Elkhorn)
Born in
Ontario, William came to Manitoba in 1894 and worked as a teacher at
Dominion City School, where he met the prominent photographer George A.
Barrowclough. He supported his family as a teacher and itinerant
photographer, specializing in real photo postcards of small towns in
southern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. The family lived at Newdale
while he was the Principal of Wellington School (1906-1907) and Newdale
School (1907-1908), and at Winnipeg (1908-1911) while he was a student
at the Manitoba Medical College. After graduation, he practiced
medicine in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Examples
of his work in Southwestern Manitoba include street scenes of Baldur,
Fairfax, Alexander, and Elkhorn.
Other
work in Manitoba includes photos from Franklin, Birtle, Strathclair,
Plumas, Arden, Bagot, Hargrave, Sidney, Elm Creek, Starbuck, St,
Norbert, Oakville, and Makinak
These
scenes offer a variety of views of the village of Baldur. The time
period would certainly be before 1910 as automobiles are not evident in
any of the scenes.
This is a view of Second Street in Baldur. To the left is the Fowler
Block, built in 1898, which still anchors that street corner. Near the
far right is the United Church built in 1904 and still a vital part of
the community. Everything in between is gone, but the gable
fronted house near the centre along with the adjoining rectangular
structure was the Chester House, Baldur’s Hotel from the beginning of
the village until the early 1960’s. Jesse Chester was early on the
scene in Baldur, in fact he was responsible for convincing the railway
company to locate the village at the spot. They almost named it
Chesterville. His was one of the first houses in town and he started a
boarding house. The business grew from there.
Some examples of Bates’ work in other communities…..
Bates took this fine overview of Elkhorn
And this view of Main Street
Although this doesn’t have the “Bates” name – the printing and the
general look of the shot indicate that it was a Bates.
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