Before Manitoba was created and became Canada’s fifth province in 1870, churches and forts were already shaping life on the prairies. While most of those early structures have long since disappeared—lost to fire, flood, redevelopment, or neglect—several still stand today, offering a glimpse of what life was once like in the past. Built by former Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) employees, settlers, missionaries, Métis and First Nations peoples, some of these original structures are now museums, while others still retain their original purpose more than 150 years later. Many of these buildings are designated as provincial heritage sites, recognized as national historic sites, or listed as municipal heritage resources—or in some cases, all three. St. James Anglican Church Located across from Winnipeg’s CF Polo Park on the other side of Portage Avenue, St. James Anglican Church is nestled around some 9,600 burials in the St. James Cemetery. It’s the oldest surviving wooden church in Western Canada, according to Manitoba’s Historic Resources Branch. In 1850, the Bishop of Rupert’s Land—a vast territory about one-third of modern Canada—gave instructions for a church to be established for the Red River Settlement (which grew into modern-day Winnipeg) along the banks of the Assiniboine River. “Apparently it took two years to complete the project due to unavoidable circumstances. For example, in 1852, a flood washed away logs,” said Rev. Dwight Rutherford, minister of St. James Anglican Church. Its current location was selected due to its high ground, per the province’s Historic Resources Branch. Rutherford said the wooden building was constructed using logs floated down the river from Baie St. Paul (near Portage la Prairie). The church’s cornerstone was laid on June 8, 1853, and the building was consecrated in 1855. He said most of the building is original, including the windows and pews. A furnace was never added, though the church now has radiant lights. “Work was done in 1999 when there was an arson fire, which meant, in terms of the roof, the structure had to be replaced, and the outer walls had to be sanded and made good,” Rutherford said. The church originally had a bell tower, but he said that came down 155 years ago. Rutherford said the church is still part of an active parish, but noted on cold days, it’s “like an iceberg” inside. “When we do services (at that church) … it’s in the summertime.” Lower Fort Garry Just north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews is Lower Fort Garry—a former HBC trading post. The old former fort consists of several stone buildings surrounded by Tyndall Stone walls. The original Fort Garry once stood at The Forks but was destroyed by the 1826 Red River flood, according to Parks Canada’s website. “In 1830, construction began on a new fort 32 kilometres downriver, one that would stand on higher ground and be situated north of the gruelling St. Andrews rapids,” per the government agency. The main buildings were completed by the early 1840s using limestone and wood from the area. Buildings located within the fort walls include the Big House—originally the residence of HBC Governor George Simpson—as well as a warehouse and fur loft/sales shop. “Today, these buildings stand as one of the finest collections of early stone buildings in Western Canada.” It was at this former fort that Treaty 1 was signed—the first in a series of 11 numbered treaties that would shape the settlement of Western and Northern Canada. The fort eventually served as a training ground for the North-West Mounted Police, a provincial penitentiary and a mental health facility. The HBC stopped using the fort as an active post in 1911, according to Parks Canada. Fraser House Just south of Lower Fort Garry stands the William Fraser House, having been relocated there in 1969 from present-day 117 Leila Avenue in Winnipeg. An interpretive plaque prepared by the Lord Selkirk Association of Rupert’s Land notes the building dates to around 1830. The former home is an early example of the Red River frame, a common construction method during the Red River Settlement era that involved setting squared logs horizontally between upright squared logs. It was built by HBC employee James Fraser, according to the plaque, where he and his wife, Ann, raised their eight children. St. Peter Dynevor Anglican Church East of the Red River, in the neighbouring Rural Municipality of St. Clements, St. Peter Dynevor Anglican Church can be found facing the river. The church was constructed in 1853 under the direction of Archdeacon William Cockran, according to the Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, replacing an earlier structure built in 1836. Thomas Serger, the people’s warden for the Anglican Parish of St. Peter, Dynevor, said the population in the area had grown to over 500 families and necessitated a larger church. “The first service, as far as I know, was November of 1854, and apparently there is some question as to whether or not the roof was entirely finished at the time,” said Serger, a resident of the Rural Municipality of St. Clements. Serger said the church was built by stonemason Duncan McRae along with assistance from First Nations peoples. He said the structure is the oldest Indigenous church made of stone in Western Canada. St. Peter Dynevor was the home church of Chief Peguis, a Saulteaux chief, who is buried next to the church on the cemetery grounds. Serger said the church was originally a rectangular building and had an altar and office area added on the east end in the early 1900s. A steeple and vestibule were then added around 1919, he said. “We do not have regular Sunday services anymore,” Serger said. “The congregation numbers have dropped significantly, plus it was heated with two very old, I would say, almost homemade wood stoves.” As to whether the church has been designated a national heritage site, Serger said, “not yet.” “It is and it isn’t, because we are the custodians, you could say, of the Chief Peguis burial site. And because he is a person of national historic significance, yes, we kind of are.” Ross House Completed in 1854 or 1855 at the foot of what is now Winnipeg’s Market Avenue, this former home now resides in Joe Zuken Heritage Park and serves as a museum. The structure was built by William Ross, a Métis resident who served as the first postmaster for the Red River Settlement, according to a report prepared by the city’s historical buildings committee. Much of the carpenter work was also done by his brother-in-law. Ross ran the post office from his home, per the report, with letters addressed simply to “Red River, British North America.” Ross also served as councillor of Assiniboia, sheriff, keeper of the jail and magistrate. He lived in the home with his wife, Jemima, and their children before he died in 1856. Seven Oaks House Located next to Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Park, this two-storey house was built between 1851 and 1853 by John Inkster, a farmer, merchant and free trader from Scotland. During the 1852 flood, the property was submerged by more than one metre of water, as reported by the city’s historical buildings committee. John Inkster and his wife lived in a tent on the second floor—then unfinished—while the children and livestock were evacuated to an area near Stonewall. A log cabin built around 1831 sits next to the structure and served as a general store, according to Parks Canada’s website. The City of Winnipeg notes this is the oldest surviving building in the city. The house was privately occupied until 1954, restored in 1956, and is operated by the Seven Oaks House Museum. It was officially declared a national historic site last fall. St. Andrew’s on the Red Anglican Church This stone church in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews is the oldest in Western Canada, according to Parks Canada, and was constructed between 1845 and 1849. A stone wall dating from around 1858 partly surrounds the structure. Barbara Gessner, the people’s warden and a lay leader with St. Andrew’s on the Red Anglican Church, said much of the present-day structure is original. However, she admits the shingles still need to be replaced from time to time. “But because it’s a historical site, we had to use the proper cedar shingles. We couldn’t just use asphalt,” said Gessner, a resident of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews. She said the church’s roof trusses and early shingles came from trees in the Birds Hill area. The church is the oldest in Western Canada still having weekly services, Gessner said. “And every year we have what we call an old-fashioned Christmas, where we have a Celtic group come out and they sing Christmas Celtic music, and we have a bake sale and craft sale.” Gessner said the church exhibits a Gothic Revival architectural style, evident from the inside, which was popular in England in the eighteenth century. William Brown House This oak log house was completed next to the Assiniboine River in Headingley around 1856, based on a city report. It was constructed by William Brown, a former HBC employee. In 1967, the report notes a new owner of the property notified the provincial government and the St. James–Assiniboia Museum of the old log house and the potential historical significance. The owner ultimately donated it to the museum. The structure was moved to its current home in 1973, next to Portage Avenue. It’s maintained by the Historical Museum of St. James-Assiniboia. Grey Nuns’ Convent Located in St. Boniface, the former Grey Nuns’ Convent was constructed between 1846 and 1851 for Grey Nuns that came from Montreal, Que., to assist with missionary work at the Red River Settlement. “Their mandate was to help with education and to help care for people, so it was around nursing,” said Cindy Desroches, executive director of the St. Boniface Museum, which is now headquartered in the building. Desroches said a construction crew consisting of around 20 to 25 men helped build the structure using white oak logs from the Pembina area, forming the main exterior walls and interior structural walls. Smaller poplar logs also make up the interior walls, she said. The building has had many uses over time, such as serving as an orphanage, seniors’ home, nursing home and the first St. Boniface Hospital. “Eventually, the building was added on to, so the chapel part … is an extension that was added on in the 1880s, so the chapel was quite small at the very beginning,” Desroches said. She said that much of the building is original, including the chimneys, which were built using bricks the nuns helped produce. The building has been closed to the public since 2024 due to restoration work, but Desroches is hopeful it will open later this year for its 175th anniversary. A fundraising campaign relying on the public’s support was launched last week, which hopes to raise the final $1.5 million needed for the restoration efforts. Upper Fort Garry Gate A prominent element of the City of Winnipeg’s crest since 1973, the Upper Fort Garry Gate is nestled behind the Manitoba Club in downtown Winnipeg. The exact date of its construction is unknown, though the city’s historical buildings committee notes the date of the gateway can be pinpointed generally to 1853. The stone structure features a small secondary story that was intended for a guard and is all that remains of Upper Fort Garry, a former HBC trading post. Construction of the fort began in 1835, a city report notes, replacing the earlier Fort Garry at The Forks after it was destroyed by a flood. After 1837, the fort boasted fifteen-foot-high stone walls and measured 240 feet by 280 feet. Over the next few decades, the fort was filled with several buildings, and the fort walls were extended. The fort also served as the meeting place for the Council of Assiniboia—the governing body at the time—and had a residence for the governor. “Upper Fort Garry became the economic and social centre of the settlement,” the report reads. The fort was gradually demolished between 1881 and 1888, and in August 1897, the HBC gifted the lots with the gateway to the City of Winnipeg “as a public park forever.” The site officially became a provincial park in 2014. Editor’s note: This is not an exhaustive list of the surviving buildings in Manitoba that predate the province, nor does it constitute a list of the top 10 oldest structures in the province.
