Ninette & Area Self-Guided Tour #3 (Town) Self-Guided Tour #4 (Rural) Self-Guided Tour #3 Ninette The Railway Story A walk down the Main Street… Begin your tour of downtown Ninette at the intersection of Highway 23 and 18. If you look eastward you can see the rail bed. If you’re up for a walk – go east to the Strathcona Trail. On the west side of the street, at the corner, you see the former Overend Store. The Railway Story The Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway arrived in 1899, creating the current village. The station and elevators became the lifeblood of the community.  The first Grain Elevator was the Winnipeg Grain Co. (1900) followed by the Northern Elevator Co. (1903) and the Patterson Elevator (ca.1919).  Patterson’s was sold to the Manitoba Pool Elevator Co. in 1928. Walking eastward you will pass the former Overend Store. The Overend Store Built in 1908, this building was in continuous use as a store until recently. James Overend was the first owner. The railway line crossed Highway 23 just to the north. The elevators and station were to the west on the other side of the tracks The Post Office Building The first Ninette Post Office was located on the homestead of Thomas Colpitts in 1884. This building was built by Postmaster James Overend in 1911 and served until 1959. Overend Hall The hall was built in 1905 on the west side of Queens Street. The Legion bought the building and moved it to the east side in 1954. As you may have noticed, the Overend family were prominent in the early history of the region. War Memorial The Cenotaph was originally erected on Riverside Street and moved to the Hall after the Legion took it over. On the west side of town.... The School The Ninette School District was organized in 1899 and, for a time, students attended classes above a general store. In 1901, a one-story, one-classroom school building was erected around 1912. This red brick structure was built in 1926.  The school closed in June 2007. The school building has been renovated into a private residence. St. Michael's Anglican Church Beginning in 1903, Anglican services were held in the village school and soon the congregation began fundraising for this building. St. Andrew's United Church The United Church was build as a Presbyterian Church in 1908. At first the Church was used by Methodists as well. The two joined long before Church Union in 1925. The Pelican Lake Yacht Club If you follow the Main Street south towards the lake you come to the Yacht Club and Terry Fox Park. The Club was founded in 1965. The former Pelican Lake School was moved to the site in 1968 as a clubhouse. Terry Fox Park The Cairn, dedicated in 2004, tells the story of Terry Fox, whose maternal grandparents were from Ninette. Terry spent several summers here, and was baptized in the United Church Manse. The Ninette Motor Hotel Ninette’s first hotel was built in 1906. It was called the Christie Hotel. In about 1964 the Ninette Motor Hotel was opened. Self-Guided Tour #4 Ninette Rural Sites.... 1. The Sanatorioum As you approach Ninette from the east along Highway #23, the first thing you will notice is the panoramic view. On the south side of the Highway is the former Ninette Sanatorium. Aerial view of the Ninette Sanatorium site (July 2019).  Source: George Penner. \ Just off of the Highway to the north is the attractively situated “Healers In The Valley” Monument commemorating the work of Dr. Alfred Paine and his wife, Teddy Paine, a Registered Nurse.  The former San buildings are across the highway to the south. The Sanatorium Board of Manitoba operated several tuberculosis sanitoria in Manitoba from the early 1900s until the 1960s. The facility was largest sanatorium in the province, comprising over a dozen buildings.  The facility closed in 1972. From 1973 to 2000, it operated as the Pelican Lake Training Centre, then as a Christian conference centre and retreat.   A monument near the former administration building commemorates Dr. Stewart, the first Superintendent of the facility. He is also noted on a historical marker erected at the site by the Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba.   2. The Strathcona Trail On Highway #23, to the north you might catch a glimpse of the abandoned railway bridge that is now part of the Strathcona Trail.     The trail climbs gently out of the valley. Railways avoided steep grades. The Ninette Cemetery As you exit town to the south along Highway #23&18, across from the Ninette Motor Hotel you can leave the highway to the right and take a scenic gravel road up the hill to the Cemetery. (It is also accessible from the first right turn as the highway crests the hill. The land for the Cemetery was sold by Charles Overend for $1 in 1922, but the first recorded burial there was in 1916. Other earlier burial involved graves moved from other locations. Records are missing because the safe containing them was stolen and the contents destroyed. Some patients from the Ninette Sanatorium were buried here.   N 49.39886, W 99.64244 Knox Presbyterian Church - Bellafield Knox Bellafield Presbyterian Church is situated roughly in the middle of what used to be known as the Crofter Settlement. Once known locally as the Gaelic Church, is a direct link to a group of Gaelic-speaking families, settlers from the Isles of Lewis and Harris in the Western Isles of Scotland.  N 49.35709, W 99.67603 The Bellafield School was nearby along Highway #18. It was opened in 1884. N 49.35471, W 99.65203 Tours in Belmont & Area Tours in Dunrea & Area