Formerly located at the northeast corner of Henry Avenue and Martha Street in Winnipeg, a 1½-storey wood frame synagogue, measuring 35 feet by 60 feet, was built in 1893 for the newly formed Rosh Pina congregation, one of Winnipeg’s first Jewish congregations. The building served as a house of worship, study, and community gathering for Eastern European Jewish immigrants who had settled primarily in the North End of the city. It was constructed to accommodate the congregation’s growing membership at the time, with congregants traveling from neighborhoods north of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline.
Between 1906 and 1907, the building underwent a nine-month renovation that saw a foundation placed under the existing structure and the entire interior renovated. The congregation stopped using the building in 1952, when it relocated to a new synagogue on Matheson Avenue to better serve its members’ residential patterns. The original Henry and Martha building remained standing for several more years but was destroyed in 1969 and later demolished.
The site is now part of the urban landscape with no physical trace of the original structure remaining.
Rosh Pina Synagogue (December 1958) by John H. Warkentin
Source: John Warkentin Fonds, 2009-029/003(04), ASC16586, York UniversitySite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90291, W97.13355
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Jews in Manitoba by Rabbi Arthur A. Chiel
Manitoba Pageant, September 1956Historic Sites of Manitoba: Rosh Pina Synagogue / Etz Chayim Synagogue (123 Matheson Avenue East, Winnipeg)
“At work next week,” Winnipeg Tribune, 24 February 1893, page 8.
“The reportorial round,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 June 1893, page 7.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
“City’s North End synagogue carries on old traditions,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 April 1955, page 31.
This page was prepared by Kenneth Ingram.
Page revised: 17 December 2025
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