Manitoba’s Past Comes to Life

MANITOBA, CANADA - From fossils of an ancient sea to a re-vitalized 1920s warehouse district that's the envy of historians around North America, we Manitobans have a lot of history-going as far back as half-a-billion years in some cases-you might never have expected to find here. And we're still discovering surprising new ancient treasures. Come see some of our great old stuff.

Historic Highlights

• Manitoba Museum: Spend a day and cover all of Manitoba from glacial pre-history in the museum's interactive exhibits, to the fur trade era when trappers, York boatmen, and voyageurs ruled the province.
• Seven Oaks House Museum: built in the 1850s, one of the oldest surviving residences in Manitoba and one of a handful of log buildings remaining that give a picture of life on the Red River during the 19th century.
• Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada: The Marion and Ed Vickar Jewish Museum is the only museum in Canada that shares the history, experiences, achievements and culture of the Jewish people of Western Canada. Winnipeg
• New Iceland Heritage Museum: The story of New Iceland through multi-media exhibits depicts the arrival of the first group of Icelanders to the shores of Lake Winnipeg in 1875.
• Cooks Creek Heritage Museum: in the oldest Galician settlement in western Canada. The seven buildings include a restored barn and blacksmith shop, pioneer homes, candle house and chapel.
• Sam Waller Museum: Fun and funky in the Pas, this eclectic collection started with local Renaissance man Sam Waller and ranges from local historic artifacts to pop culture pieces and bizarre little freaks of nature (stuffed and mounted).
• Heritage North Museum:in Thompson, filled with northern trapping and mining artifacts, and one of only a few genuine birchbark canoes in existence anywhere.
• Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre:from the Lake Agassiz glacial era, the largest collection of prehistoric marine fossils in North America. In Morden.
• St. Boniface Museum: The oldest building in Winnipeg was built for the Grey Nuns between 1846 and 1851 as the first convent and hospital in Western Canada. It now serves as a showcase of Metis and French-Canadian history.
• Dalnavert Museum: This 1895 house is restored as a fine example of Queen Anne Revival-style architecture. Winnipeg
• Manitoba Agricultural Museum: Since the Museums beginnings in the early 1950s, the Manitoba Agricultural Museum has preserved the agricultural artifacts and the history of Manitoba pioneers.

Plunges into the Past

• Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site of Canada: The 19^th-century fur trade era come alive every summer at the oldest stone fur trade centre still intact in Western Canada.
• Inglis Grain Elevators National Historic Site: the last remaining row of standard wooden country grain elevators in the world-five elevators intact beside an abandoned rail line.
• Wasyl Negrych Pioneer Homestead: One of the most impressive folk sites in North America contains the oldest known Ukrainian-style house in Manitoba and the most complete set of period farmyard buildings in the province.
• La Maison Gabrielle Roy:Gabrielle Roy's sole Manitoba residence from 1909 to 1937. One of Canada's most influential French writers, Roy's work is internationally-known.
• The Margaret Laurence Home: In Neepawa, the home where internationally-renowned author Margaret Laurence grew up, houses memorabilia including doctoral robes and hoods, typewriter, and honorary degrees.
• Mennonite Heritage Village: In Steinbach, this 40-acre complex recreates a street from one of the early Mennonite villages in southern Manitoba.
• Minnedosa Heritage Village: a landmark church, rural school, 1919 period home, windmill, trout pond, working water wheel, trappers' cabin, blacksmith shop.
• Chapman Museum: Go back to the 1880s in Brandon in these 16 buildings in a village setting, complete with period artifacts.
• Pinawa Dam Provincial Heritage Park: The remains of Manitoba's first concrete hydro-electric dam, built in 1906, rise out of the Pinawa Channel like ancient Roman ruins.

Walkabouts

• The Forks National Historic Site of Canada: The shops and restaurants at the busy Forks may look up-to-date, but this place is six thousand years old-at least. Parks Canada offers walking tours exploring the history.
• Boissevain's Outdoor Art Gallery: 24 giant outdoor murals depict local history, from scenes of the first locomotive in Boissevain to the march of the Northwest Mounted Police west in the 1870s.
• The Exchange District National Historic Site: In the heart of Winnipeg, The District BIZ offers walking tours of this historic commercial district and national historic site, now a bustling nexus for artists, clubbers, antique buffs and foodies.
• International Peace Garden: a 2,300-acre (930-ha) botanical garden and park dedicated to the long-standing peace between Canada and the United States of America, located on the border of Manitoba and North Dakota.
• Selkirk Avenue Walking Tours: one of Winnipeg's original ethnic neighbourhoods to keep its architecture, small businesses and diverse multicultural people.
• Hecla Village: An easy self-guiding trail through the restored village traces the history of Icelandic settlement in the area. Restored buildings include a church, community hall and 1920s school.

Way Up North in Churchill or York Factory

• Cape Merry National Historic Site of Canada:the remnants of a gun powder magazine, all that remains of the first battery built in 1746. Strategically misplaced, the battery was dismantled and rebuilt in 1749 on its present site.
• Parks Canada Visitor Reception Centre: interpretive exhibits on the area's human and natural history of the area in historic VIA Rail station.
• Prince of Wales Fort National Historic Site of Canada: across the Churchill River from the town of Churchill, a stone fortress built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1700s.
• Sloop Cove National Historic Site of Canada: safe harbour and winter haven for Hudson's Bay Co. (HBC) sloops in the 18th century, now a meadow surrounded by rocks with iron mooring rings.
• York Factory National Historic Site of Canada: remains of the once great Hudson's Bay Company fur trade post, including a depot built in 1832, the oldest wooden structure still standing on permafrost.
• Eskimo Museum:displays Inuit carvings and artifacts among the oldest in the world dating from Pre-Dorset (1700 B.C.) through Dorset, Thule and modern Inuit times.