Winnipeg Beach: Leisure and Courtship in a Resort Town, 1900–1967
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by Dale Barbour
University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg, 2011
226 pp., illus., $24.95 paperback
Winnipeg Beach, now a growing retirement town north of Winnipeg, was once a bustling vacation region, complete with a boardwalk, amusement strip, dance hall, and wooden roller coaster. There was also an “upper-class” hotel, The Empress, which burnt down in 1935.
The Canadian Pacific Railway’s daily runs and weekend “Moonlight Specials” made the destination on Lake Winnipeg easily accessible and very popular. The railway accommodated the picnickers, cabin owners and renters, and day trippers with fast, affordable rides to the park starting in 1901. Both the trip itself and subsequent beach encounters made for a dating playground. The beach experience also helped to blur the lines of class, religion, and ethnicity.
As times changed and the automobile became king, the resort area’s popularity diminished. The CPR pulled out of the unprofitable situation in 1967, demolishing most traces of its existence.
Whether you have been to the area or simply lived through the time period author Dale Barbour recounts, it’s worth a trip down memory lane to Winnipeg Beach. Behind the photos, interviews, quotes, and comparisons with other resort parks, Barbour offers social, moral, and even fashion history, making his book an informative and entertaining read.
— Beverley Tallon (Read bio)
Beverley Tallon is a freelance writer and the former Assistant Editor for Canada's History.