Armstrong’s Point
Armstrong’s Point c. 1915 courtesy Manitoba Archives. Filed under Winnipeg Streets.
Armstrong’s Point is among my favourite neighbourhoods in Winnipeg and was the ideal choice for the location of the fictional home Ravenscraig Hall in my novel Ravenscraig.
Tucked into a bend in the Assiniboine River, the lush landscape and expansive lawns of “The Gates” as it is often called in Winnipeg, was where the early wealthy class built their mansions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Armstrong's Point designated as Winnipeg's first Heritage Conservation District (HCD) on April 25, 2019, creating a way to protect the neighbourhood's historic significance, heritage values and character over the long term. Like many others who see tremendous value in protecting old buildings and artifacts, I only wish this has happened before some of the original homes had been destroyed.
Going forward, growth and change in the district will be guided by the Armstrong's Point HCD Plan which seeks to protect the neighbourhood's historic significance, heritage values and character over the long term.
The Manitoba Historical Society has catalogued a great many of the homes and has made the information, and a walking tour guide, here, where you can learn about the original owners and their contributions to early Winnipeg.
To this day, Armstrong’s Point remains a distinctly beautiful and peaceful residential area, hidden away from the busy streets of downtown, yet a short walk to the city centre, public transportation, fine restaurants, walking paths, as well as churches and a synagogue.
No, you will not find a real Ravenscraig Hall, in Armstrong’s Point, but I have picked a spot where it would have been located had it existed.
This video shows what Armstrong’s Point looks like in modern times. It was produced by Compass Digital Media of Winnipeg and is narrated by Bill Richardson. I hope it will help you understand why the residents association of Armstrong’s Point remains so fiercely protective of their historic neighbourhood.
The following notes were posted by Compass Digital Media to accompany the youtube video.
Historic Armstrong’s Point received its name in the mid-1800s, when the land was first granted by the Hudson’s Bay Company to Captain Joseph Hill.
When Captain Hill returned to England five years later, he left his boatman James Armstrong in charge and the area gradually came to be known as Armstrong’s Point. In the early 1880s when Hill heard that land values were escalating in the Canadian west, he returned to Winnipeg, reestablished his title to his property, and sold it to a syndicate headed by J. McDonald and E. Rothwell.
The Armstrong’s Point Association was formed 54 years ago to “preserve the residential nature” of one of Winnipeg’s most cherished neighbourhoods. Over the years, residents have come and gone, but still somehow, this peaceful, naturally beautiful setting remains, cherished by all who live here and visit here.
Of the 123 homes on the Point, 75 are on the city’s Inventory of Historically Noteworthy Buildings. The ornamental Tyndallstone gates were erected in 1902 and were designated by the City as historically significant in 1993.
The Cornish Library, a Carnegie library built in 1915, was named after Winnipeg*s first mayor, Francis Cornish. Ralph Connor House, home to the University Women*s Club at 54 West Gate, has been designated municipally and provincially and was recently named a National Historic Site. Beechmount at 134 West Gate is on the Canadian Registry of Historic Places.