Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kudlowich Homestead (Birds Hill Provincial Park, RM of Springfield)

Link to:
Photos & Coordinates | Sources

By the 1930s and 1940s, a strong Polish and Ukrainian community had established itself around Pine Ridge in the Rural Municipality of Springfield.

Frank and Rose Kudlowich built their home here in 1936, its walls made of logs and diagonally lathed shrub branches to hold the plaster. Then a whitewash was applied over the plaster on the interior walls. The main floor of the house was living space while the upstairs was storage. Frank and Rose had their bedroom made of cedar walls in one corner. In the centre was the stove, the kitchen was in the back and a dugout cellar was under the stairs. Their two children, Olga and Stan, slept in the living area that also had a large circular table and a big floor radio. Oil lamps hung on the wall.

In 1937, a barn was built. Hay was stored in the loft while livestock were sheltered on the main floor. Behind the barn was a dugout root cellar. A small granary, also used as a summer kitchen when it was empty, was constructed out of planks from an old railway car. Faint white lettering is still visible on its sides. A well was close to the granary and also served as a refrigerator.

The Kudlowich family left this homestead when Stan was seven years old, and his uncle John's family took it over for the next seven years. The Pine Ridge area became part of Birds Hill Provincial Park in 1967. Upon returning to Manitoba, Stan took great pride in the restoration of the family homestead and always thought of it as his home.

The Kudlowich Homestead is an important interpretive feature of Birds Hill Provincial Park and the former Pine Ridge community.

Photos & Coordinates

Kudlowich House (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Kudlowich Barn (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Kudlowich Granary (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.00434, W96.89869 denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

Obituary [Stan Kudlowich], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 January 2002.

Pine Ridge Self-guiding Trail, Birds Hill Provincial Park.

Interpretive Park Map, Birds Hill Provincial Park.

This page was prepared by Rose Kuzina.

Page revised: 9 November 2021

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