Manitoba Avenue has been home to some of Selkirk’s longest standing businesses – and it still is. Take a stroll, bike, or drive along this historic street, and learn about some of the best remembered businesses from days past.
A Simple Form Of Currency Before there were institutional banks in communities across Canada, people had to barter or exchange goods and services to acquire what they could not produce for themselves. In Red River settlement the Settlers relied on bartering throughout the West. It was a common method of developing local commerce, but it…
225 Manitoba Avenue 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…
250 Manitoba Avenue Selkirk’s first post office was opened in 1876 with James Colcleugh as postmaster. Construction of the present building began in 1907 by Brown and Garson Construction Corporation and it was designed by the Winnipeg architectural firm of James Chisholm and Son. For many years it housed the federal government offices in addition…
383 Eveline Street The first Merchant’s Hotel on this property was built in 1887 by John Christian Schultz. The original building was moved back in 1903 to make room for this one. In addition to serving as a hotel, this building has provided space for the Bank of Montreal, a barbershop, and a pool room.…
389 Eveline Street Garson Quarries of Tyndall began work on the foundation of this building in July 1903. J. M. Beattie was in charge of the construction of the building. The first floor was shared by the bank and Moody’s hardware, the second provided space for many of the city’s professional offices, while the third…
216 Manitoba Avenue In the late 1800s town physicians would often combine their profession with that of pharmacy. Many physicians would open and operate the first pharmacies in town. This was certainly true for Selkirk, as James Colcleugh opened Selkirk’s first pharmacy in 1876. R. H. Gilhuly operated the pharmacy for almost a century. Walter…
212 Manitoba Ave Abraham Rifkin immigrated from Shadrinsk, Russia to New York, USA. His wife and children, Louis, Izzy, Benny, Sarah, Harry, and Gordon slowly followed, one or two at a time. When Harry immigrated in 1908, he was 14 years old. The family settled in Galancy, a Jewish borough of New York. Abraham and…
241 Manitoba Ave Ethel’s Flower shop was opened by Ken and Ethel Crowder on February 11th, 1963 at 241 Manitoba Avenue. They ran the shop before selling to Lena Van Blaricom in 1966. Ethel’s Flower Shop, Date Unknown, Selkirk Heritage Advisory Committee Building Inventory Lena was very community driven, being active with the Selkirk Nursing…
214 Manitoba Ave Like many other commercial enterprises in Selkirk, the Dinette, was a business founded and run by new immigrants to Manitoba. In this case, the entrepreneurs, Anna and Walter Kropelnicki, were Ukrainians. Though they had arrived in Canada at different times and had come from different regions of Ukraine, they had met and…