Manitoba Municipalities: Virden

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Virden was established in 1882 as a stopping point on the Canadian Pacific Railway as it moved west across the prairies. Initially known as Gopher Creek, for a creek that flowed into the Assiniboine River, its name was changed to Virden in 1883, for the country estate of the Duke of Manchester, who served on the CPR Board of Directors. Virden was incorporated as a Village on 2 August 1890, becoming a Town on 14 September 1904. Oil was discovered in its vicinity in 1957, making Virden the centre of Manitoba’s “oil patch”.

Mayors:

Term	Mayor
1890-1892	Robert Adamson (1852-?)
1893-1894	William James Kennedy (1857-1912)
1895-1896	B. F. Foster
1897	B. Meek
1898-1904	Duncan McDonald (1856-1920)
1905	Richard Langtry (1866-1954)
1906-1907	J. A. Blakeman
1908-1909	George Clingan (1868-1953)
1910-1911	James R. Mullins (?-1941)
1912	William A. Bridgett (1867-?)
1913	T. A. Carscadden
1914-1916	T. M. Mitchell
1917-1918	D. S. Carnahan
1919-1921	Dr. H. N. Thompson
1922	J. H. Chalmers
1923-1924	James Gardner
1925	James E. Rothnie (1885-?)
1926-1931	James Gardner
1932-1935	A. E. Higginbotham
1936-1941	George Gabel
1942-1947	Dr. H. N. Thompson
1948	R. J. Timms
1949	James Gardner
1950-1951	Clarence Moore (1884-1977)
1952-1953	Dr. H. N. Thompson
1954-1957	D. J. Reid
1958-1961	John Clifford Cory (1904-1971)
1962-1970	H. J. McNeill
1971-1975	Steven Hegion
1976-1977	Brian Archer
1978	Al Case
1979-1980	?
1981-1986	W. Glen McKinnon
1987-1989	Richard J. Plaisier
1990-1993	W. Glen McKinnon
1994-1995	Darcy Cockbill
1996-1998	J. Richard Armstrong
1999-2001	David J. Reid
2002-2006	Stan Ward
2006-2010	Bruce Dunning

Historic Sites:

Alexandra Hotel

Discovery Well Cairn

Empire Publishing Building

McDonald Drug Store and Bakery

Queen Terrace (302 Queen Street West)

Railway Underpass

St. Paul's United Church

St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church

Scott Block (Old Post Office)

Virden Canadian Pacific Railway Station

Virden Cemetery

Virden Concrete Bridge

Virden Municipal Building and Auditorium

Virden Pioneer Home Museum (Frame House)

Virden Consolidated School No. 144 (1905-?)

Virden War Memorial

Sources:

This gallery was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 22 April 2013