Written by: Emily Karklin Selkirk Prospers Just like any other town, money makes a community grow. When it’s in great supply, the town thrives. This is exactly what happened to Selkirk at the end of the Great Depression. Once the post-war boom hit town, Selkirk did not hold back on trying to expand and grow.…
The sixth annual Noventis Credit Union Evening of History, a City of Selkirk initiative, and fundraiser for the Selkirk Heritage Endowment Fund (SHEF), will be held this year on May 11 at Memorial Hall. “The event is growing and we’re in a time of respecting our distances, so it was fitting to hold this year’s…
This peculiar chair found tucked away in the City of Selkirk council chambers has been an oddity for passersby to gawk at for many years. Staff and council have no idea how long it’s been sitting there and had little context behind its significance. Accompanying the chair has a note that reads “Horn Chair –…
Written by Ruth Hooker’s Granddaughter Joen Hadfield Ruth Hooker was born Ruth Caroline Moody and was the youngest of four. The Moody home — the big, square, yellow house on North Main Street —was bought by her family in 1900 and it was there that she was born on June 19th of the same year.…
Some may think “Foto-Nite” is a misspelling of Photo Night, but that is not the case here. Foto-Nite was a promotional event to boost the attendance of theatres during the weekdays. Foto-Nite at the Selkirk Rothstein Theatre’s Ltd. were held from 1952 to 1962. What is Foto-Nite? The concept was copy written in 1939 by…
The municipalities of Selkirk and St. Clements had long sought out to have a permanent link built across the Red River to replace a busy ferry service, but finding the necessary funds proved elusive. That changed in spring of 1934 when the federal government announced a $40 million national infrastructure program meant to provide employment…
In September of 1906, Selkirk ratepayers voted in favour of allowing its municipal government to borrow up to $150,000 to install a waterworks and sewer system for the town. The waterworks would distribute a pressurized, filtered water supply to a network of businesses, homes, and fire hydrants. Prior to this, residents relied on their own…
Selkirk’s first indoor arena was established in 1907. John W. Jones purchased the outdoor rink used by the Selkirk Skating Club on Fox Avenue near Main Street. Over it, he constructed what one account describes as a “concave-shaped, tin-covered monster” and christened it ‘Alexandra’, after his daughter. In its heyday of the 1930s and early…
In February 1946, a group of people (representing more than two dozen community organizations) came together under the chairmanship of Louis G. Howard to form the Selkirk and District Memorial Committee. Their objective was to decide on a suitable memorial to the servicemen and women of the region who died in the Boer War, First…
Rothstein Theatres Ltd. entered the Selkirk market in 1938 when it took over the Central Theatre on Eveline Street. Nathan Rothstein was well known in theatre circles. In the 1920s, he owned the Arlington Theatre in Winnipeg and a handful of theatres in rural Manitoba. In 1926, he led an investment group that built several…
