The exhibits in the Streets of Selkirk tour are designed to explore the history of Selkirk’s landmark streets. Identify who they are named after and important events/people/buildings on the street.
Queen Avenue honours Queen Victoria who ruled the Great Britain from 1837 to 1901. Victoria became queen of England when she was just 18 years old. By the time she died, 64 years later, she was Empress of India and ruler of the largest empire in the world. Her reign was the longest of any…
Robinson Avenue is named for Captain William Robinson, a man of many talents who grew rich in shipping, timber and fishing. Robinson’s fleet of fishing boats and tugs, fishing and timber camps provided 1000 jobs to the people of the region every year. His enterprises provided timber and fish for processing in Selkirk’s first factories…
This street honours Lord Dufferin, Canada’s third Governor-General. It is on the Selkirk Town Plan of 1875. On August 17, 1877, Lord and Countess of Dufferin actually visited the town! The Governor-General and his wife were the highest ranking persons ever to visit the fledgling community. Their visit convinced her citizens that Selkirk was fated…
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 paved the way for hundreds of newcomers from Ontario to become wealthy in the west. However,…
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. Map of Proposed Railway Route, 1872,…
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…
A few historical figures could be responsible for the naming of Eaton Avenue. Timothy Eaton, a successful businessman who founded the well-known Eaton’s department store brought his two nephews to Canada with the hope that they would help him run his stores. However, John James Eaton and Robert Y. Eaton were not interested in the…
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…