This building has witnessed so much of the history of this area! Can you imagine the excitement of the train’s first arrival here with goods from all over Canada!
We celebrated this lovely old building’s 125th birthday on Friday September 16, 2022. What a great party. The Winnipegosis Historical Society would like to thank everyone for joining us and making this such a special day!
This building officially opened October 8th, 1897 with the arrival of the first train. It served as a train station until 1977. In 1985 it became the Winnipegosis Museum. The museum’s grand opening was in 1990 during the village’s 75th celebration.
If these walls could talk can you imagine the stories we would hear! Joyous greetings, tearful farewells, the sound of boots as young men and women left to fight in the great wars and a multitude of languages as newcomers stepped off the train!
The 125th anniversary celebration was made so special by music from Elmer Zalischuk and Dan Stozek, the display set up by Trapper Bob Church, the presence of CKDM, greetings from council, Dauphin Railway Museum, Fort Dauphin Museum, Association of Manitoba Museums, Royal Purple, New Horizons Senior Centre, Little Muddy Waters Métis Local, and the local Churches.
A special thank you must go out to our cohost, the Little Muddy Water Métis Local for supplying coffee, water and entertainment.
Thank you to all our board members and friends of the museum for supplying cupcakes and your help in setting up!
Free tours, entertainment and refreshments, (with a little bit of history and a lot of sunshine) made this a special day!
In the museum we have a picture of the train’s first official arrival! The station building was new and the people standing there are dressed in the fashion of the late 1897. The platform extended over the street that now runs by it
As I work and research in the museum I am often struck by the thought of the courage, tenacity and hope that must have filled the hearts of people as they came off the train to start a new life here.
I also reflect on how the train would have affected our Indigenous people. They were now able to take their goods directly to different markets. They could travel to relatives who lived in communities near the railways.
The coming of the railway changed so much.