Introduction
Overview
We have attempted to relate these site to the history of the region
through a series of short articles on:
1. Historic Claims of the area
2. Analysis Critera - Where
sites fit
in terms of the Community
Heritage
3. Community Layout
4. Notable People (See the Notable
People Project)
The project is intended as a "Beginning" rather than a Finished
Product.
Local groups and individuals are invited to amend and add to it. New
information is always welcome and we will make every effort to add
anthing that is sent to us.
One goal is to collect as much information about our older
buildings as we can. This will be found in the Sites section, and we
would appreciate corrections, additions, comments and questions as we
complete the project.
Community Historical
Claims
Wawanesa
is one of numerous Manitoba towns that had its original location
abandoned when a nearby site was chosen by a railway company. In this
case the village of Souris City, originally surveyed in 1881, had only
a short way to travel. It is also one of dozens of towns that sprang up
almost overnight when a railway station appeared in the middle of a
well-populated farmland.
A map of the region in 1885 would show the modestly well-developed
settlements of Souris City, Rounthwaite and Millford surrounding the
current location of Wawanesa. All had basic services and settlers
turned to these spots for mail and supplies. Trips to Brandon, a day’s
journey north, were necessary for selling grain and buying the more
specialized items. A thriving grist mill operated along the river to
the south by the John Gregory family and a brick yard near Souris City
also were well used by the settlers.
With such services in place the setters turned their attention to the
business of establishing farms while the railway companies just kept
making promises. By the time the current town of Wawanesa appeared in
1890, the region itself had a long and interesting history.
In the winter of 1889/1990 most of the residents of Souris City used
the river ice to slide their dwellings and business structures a few
kilometres northwards to the newly created townsite of Wawanesa. In a
few short months the little village nestled attractively in a deep wide
bend of the Souris River sprang fully-fledged into being.
In the early years of the twentieth century Wawanesa consolidated its
position as the primary trading centre for the region while to the
east, Treesbank, and to the west, Nesbitt also prospered. Nearby
Methven and Rounthwaite remained smaller service centres.
As Wawnesa looks forward to the century ahead it has taken steps to
preserved important aspects of its past, including the preservation of
the original Wawanesa Mutual Office as a Provincially Designated
Heritage Site housing the Sipiweski Museum. Among the museums
exhibits are important collections relating to “The Mutual” and to
Nellie McLung who grew up nearby and was married in the local church.
Analysis Criteria
Settlers and Defining Culture
The settlement of the Wawanesa area began in 1879 with the arrival of a
few settlers from Ontario who traveled along Yellowquill Trail from
Portage. The confirmation of the location of the railway station in
1890 caused the first location, Souris City, to be abandoned in favour
of the new location about a two kilometres to the north. Soon
many settlers followed, also mainly from Ontario - with some from the
British Isles as well.
Economic Engines
Farming formed the economic basis of virtually all prairie settlements
and in this regard Wawanesa was typical in its early years. The
formation of the Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company initially impacted
only locals but it grew into an international company that provided a
very significant addition to the economic life of the village.
Commercial Growth
The much-anticipated arrival of the railway in 1890 in the midst of
well-populated and productive farmland led to an initial burst of
commercial enterprises. The usual banks, general stores, drug and
jewelry stores appeared. Some of these would naturally be housed in
quickly erected-frame buildings, many of which were replaced by more
substantial structures over the first few decades. Although few of the
earliest survive, several of those built near the turn of the century
created the downtown streetscape, the general outline of which does
still exist today.
Social & Cultural Development
As the first settlers in the Wawanesa area established themselves in
the years 1879-1884 three identifiable communities developed within a
few kilometres of the current site of Wawanesa Millford, established in
1880 at the mouth of Oak Creek, close to the confluence of the Souris
and Assiniboine Rivers was the first village south of the Assiniboine
in western Manitoba. It was soon joined by Souris City on 17-7-17 just
south of Wawanesa. During a time when dozens of speculative town sites
were promoted during the Manitoba Boom of 1881-82, these two locations
had the distinction of at least being inhabited and each indeed did
have a selection of services for pioneers. Many other such “Great
Cities of the Future” existed on paper only. To the north Rounthwaite
also was well established by 1882 and boasted the first Anglican Church
in southwestern Manitoba, an attractive building which is now located
at the Sipiweski Museum in Wawanesa after many decades of service.
In most Manitoba communities, the “Establishment” era is defined by the
replacement of “Pioneer” log, sod and rough lumber buildings by more
ambitious constructions of milled lumber. With that definition in mind
the town Wawanesa can be said to have had a very short Pioneer stage,
as much of the town was created overnight as buildings were moved from
the previous location just up the river or built quickly from materials
readily available via the new rail line. Many of these building were
substantial but few survive today. Within a few years they were
supplanted and replaced by more ambitious structures reflecting the
beginning of the Establishment phase. The Consolidation period can be
said to have started in about 1898 with the erection of the Story
Block, followed quickly by the Wawanesa Mutual Building, both of which
survive today. It was in that period that many fine homes, of frame and
brick construction, some near the core area but others on the
perimeter. Owned by community leaders with names like Story, Jackson
and Vanstone, several of these buildings have been well cared for and
survive intact.
Community Form and Layout
The layout of the town of Wawanesa was a direct response to the railway
line to which it owes its existence. As with many such towns its Front
Street parallels the tracks, with its main commercial street (Fourth
Avenue) running perpendicular to it. In Wawanesa the residences
appeared on either side of the commercial district in a typical
fashion. Many fine homes were soon erected, many of which were finished
in local brick and several of which still stand today. The memory of
names such as Story, Mooney, and Jackson is evident in the reminiscence
related to such dwellings.
It was predictable that Wawanesa would grow quickly and confidently in
that that the vital rail link placed it at the centre of an already
well-established agricultural base. There was no speculation or
uncertainty about its importance as a service centre, however its role
as home to a large international insurance company could not have been
predicted.
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