Historic Sites of Manitoba: Riverview Park (RM of Headingley)

This small park beside a bridge across the Assiniboine River, in the Rural Municipality of Headingley, commemorates the history of the Headingley area, and the importance of the river. From earliest times the river was used as a transportation route, first by Aboriginal peoples who used it to follow the bison along the banks, and later by European explorere and fur traders. In the 1850s, the river became central to settlers who began to farm river lots.

In summer, canoes were the usual form of transportation and, in 1877, steam barges and large paddlewheel boats began to travel the river with passengers and supplies. Overnight stopping places, such as the historic “Hermitage” at Hall Road, provided popular accommodation or a night of dancing. In winter, horse-drawn sleighs were practical transportation and ice blocks were cut from the frozen river and stored in ice houses to keep food cool during the following summer. The river was a social centre for swimming and picnics, or winter sports such as skating, hockey, and sledding.

In 1882, the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through the area, changing Headingley’s focus from the river to businesses along the Portage Trail. In the last half of the1800s, southern Manitoba farmers crossed the Assiniboine at this point bringing grain by wagon over the ferry to Winnipeg mills, often camping here on the river banks and returning the next day with supplies. Stage coaches used the river road from Winnipeg and crossed here to southern Manitoba with the mail.

Year

Event

1869

First rope-style ferry built at this spot

1880

Second replacement ferry built

1882

Train bridge built with turntable in the centre to accommodate passage of steam boats. The original remains with some superstructure changes.

1905

Third replacement ferry built

1915

First wooden road bridge built to replace ferry

1920

Road bridge destroyed by spring ice; replacement bridge was built

1936

New road bridge built over the winter of 1935-36, a steel and wood structure with stone and concrete piers

1997

Taylor Bridge, the world’s first “smart bridge”, is built to replace the aging road bridge

The Chateau Dixie Hotel, also known as the Riverview Hotel, stood at this site from around 1911 to 1948, when it was destroyed in an early-morning fire.

Riverview Park commemorative sign

Riverview Park commemorative sign (August 2010)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough

Riverview Park

Riverview Park (May 2019)
Source: Rose Kuzina

Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.86825, W97.40537
denoted by symbol on the map above

Sources:

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Rose Kuzina.

Page revised: 28 March 2020

Historic Sites of Manitoba

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