Lily Street, 1911

Lily Street from Alexander to Henry, as it appeared on the 1905 Winnipeg Fire Insurance Map. Click to enlarge

Lily, the short street in south Point Douglas that extended from Pacific Avenue up to Henry, was laid out early in the 1870s. By 1911, it was entirely residential, made up mostly by detached frame houses, with two apartment blocks at the street's north end. While south Point Douglas in 1911 was one of the city's most densely-populated districts, made up largely of new immigrants, Lily Street was home to a number of the city's Jewish merchant and professional classes: Zimmerman, Ripstein, Rosenblat, Margolese, Moscovitz, Bronfman.

William Zimmerman lived in a modest wood frame house at 23 Lily. Arriving in Winnipeg with his family at the age of 12 in 1882, the Zimmerman's spent their first summer in Winnipeg as most immigrants in those early days did: living in the shantytown that existed where the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is under construction today. Within five years, the family were able to open a general store at 669 Main St. In 1913, William replaced the old store with a three-storey building, which still stands at this location.

Drawing of William Zimmerman's new block at 669 Main, designed by Max Blankstein, 1913. Credit

At 39 Lily, Dr. Oscar Margolese came to Winnipeg from Eastern Canada in 1906, and in 1911 his offices were at his residence. Dr. Margolese specialized in urology, and practiced until at least 1919. He was a founding member of the B’nai B’rith Lodge in 1911.

Joseph Fahey moved to 46 Lily in 1882, and would remain there until 1933. He was a prominent union supporter in the early 20th century, and the Arlington Hotel which he managed was known as "union headquarters" early in the century. (The Arlington was located on Market St. across from City Hall.) Joseph and his wife Ella raised three sons, all of whom served in the First World War. Two of these boys, 29 year-old Ernest, and 22 year-old Jack, were killed in action in 1918.

Daniel McDonald lived in a brick house at 45 Lily. Retired as Western manager of the Confederation Life Co., the 77 year-old McDonald by 1911 would have been a vestige of the Anglo-Celt executive class in Point Douglas.

The house at 51 Lily had been constructed circa 1895 by Alexander Black, whose lumber business was located a few blocks east on Gomez St. By 1911, the house was occupied by Nathan Rosenblat, who operated a hardware and clothing store at 651 Main, in what is now the Man-Win Hotel.

51 Lily circa 1962. Demolished in 1970. Credit

At 60 Lily, which looked down George Avenue to the river, lived Yechiel and Mindel Bronfman, with three of their children: Laura, Allen, and Rosia. Two other sons lived at two Main Street hotels that managed: Harry at the Patricia, and Samuel almost directly across the street at the Bell. In the 1920s, the Bronfman family would move to Montreal, where they built the Seagram's distillery empire.

In 1927, the block between Alexander and Robert (Galt) Avenues was bought up by the T. Eaton Co., including the Zimmerman residence, where they built a large two-storey warehouse that remains there today. William Zimmerman moved to an apartment on Central Park, where he lived until his death in 1946.

William Zimmerman, n.d.

On December 29, 1944, a 77 year-old man was crushed between a truck and the wall of the warehouse at 181 Bannatyne Ave. The driver of the truck was 61 year-old George Bell, an express clerk with the CPR, who lived with his wife Constance at #16-76 Lily, The Exeter Block. Less than a year later, in September, '45, he Tribune reported that the fire was caused by a cigarette being butted out on the couch, and that a drunk George was rescued by the caretaker with some difficulty, believing his wife was still inside. George died from his injuries at the hospital several days later.

South Point Douglas, circa 1910. This view shows Henry Avenue, with Martha St. on the right. The trees and houses of Lily St. can be seen in the background. The rear of the Exeter Block is shown on the left. Credit

In the early 1960s, almost all of Lily between Logan and Henry was demolished to make way for the connecting 'freeway' between the Disraeli Bridge and Main Street, and the new CPR office building on Henry (now the Manitoba Metis Federation headquarters). The new roadway cut diagonally across the Fahey property, and where the Bronfman house stood at 60 Lily became a parking lot for the CPR building.

Daniel McDonald house at 45 Lily, c.2000. Credit

The ornate late-Victorian Alexander Black house, home to Nathan Rosenblat in 1911, was demolished in 1970 in spite of the protest of a handful of architecture students and local history buffs. Fittingly, an auto garage was built there in 1980. Today, only two houses remain on Lily Street: the Daniel McDonald residence, which appears to be well maintained, and a duplex at numbers 55-57, which appears to be one of the last of the South Point Douglas flophouses.