Morris Avenue is named for Manitoba’s second Lieutenant-Governor, Alexander Morris. Morris was given a street name on the earliest plan of the town. Why? Because Morris changed the development pattern of Selkirk … and all of Western Canada. He also made it possible for hundreds of newcomers from Ontario to become wealthy in the west.…
Superior Avenue points eastward to Lake Superior from where the rail line from Eastern Canada was inching its way west in 1875. The next step would be the building of the rail bridge across the Red River! Selkirk would become “the new Chicago”- the transportation hub of Western Canada. Province of Manitoba, Map of Proposed…
Manitoba was Canada’s fifth province and its first expansion into the west. Selkirk was one of the first new towns in this new province. With the prospects of becoming the transportation hub for western Canada, Selkirk was a town with unlimited potential. A street named “Manitoba” captured the feelings of enthusiasm and optimism about the…
The Governor General and his family lived on an estate in Ireland called Clandeboye. When Lord and Lady Dufferin visited Selkirk in 1877, as Queen Victoria’s representative, it was a momentous event! Naming a street after the noble visitors’ home showed the loyalty of the townspeople. It also might have created an address that drew…
Eaton Avenue was named for William Herbison (W.H.) Eaton, a member of Timothy Eaton’s merchandising-empire family. W.H. Eaton and two of Timothy Eaton’s sons came to Selkirk in the late 1870’s and set up businesses. The boys ran a livery stable and made money renting wagons, carriages and teams of horses to construction crews and…
The name of this avenue recognizes the family of D.W. McLean. The family farmhouse stood on the NW corner where Knox Church was built in 1904. Sometimes naming a street in honour of a landowner helped persuade him to sell when the town fathers wanted the land. “Church Street” One of the architectural treasures of…
Vaughan Avenue commemorates the long service and guidance to the community by two remarkable surveyors, father Amos Vaughan and son Lynds Smith Vaughan. Amos did the first surveys of the town and even labelled the streets on the first town plan. He and his son L.S. alternated as town surveyors and councilors for more than…
Britannia Avenue is a tribute to the connection that Selkirk residents felt toward the British monarchy. The avenue was likely named at the start of World War I when British patriotism was at its peak in the town. British jingoism was at its height between the Boer War and the beginning of WWI. Songs such…
Rosser Avenue recognizes former Confederate General, Thomas Lafayette Rosser. In 1881, as chief engineer of the CPR, he granted Selkirk’s fondest wish. For a price, he gave Selkirk a rail line, though such branches were against CPR policy. Many thousands of extra dollars changed hands before track was laid. Within a year, Rosser was fired…
Selkirk’s First Commercial Street The name Eveline was given to the muddy trail behind the busy waterfront in 1875. Eveline was most likely the wife of inn-keeper and entrepreneur, John Greig. Before the creation of Selkirk, the “inner trail”, as it had been known for 50 years, led along the riverbank to Lower Fort Garry.…