Ratepayers vs. The Company

In 1902, as settlement in Western Canada continued to expand dramatically, traffic on the Canadian Pacific Railway's main line through Point Douglas continued to increase. Since 1881, the CP's railroad had run down Point Douglas Avenue, a public road, but over the years, train traffic increased, more tracks were laid, and numerous spur tracks ran off the main line to connect to the district's various industrial and wholesaling concerns.

As traffic on the mainline grew, so was the city. New residential neighborhoods sprouted further and further from the central core. For citizens who traveled by streetcar, a fare from the North End to downtown involved getting off at one side of the CPR on Main, walking to the other side, and catching another streetcar. That is of course if trains were blocking Main Street.

Canadian Pacific Railway Station, showing Point Douglas Avenue on the right, with Main Street in the background, 1900.

For residents in the north-east section of Point Douglas, the isolation that the busy CPR mainline caused was much worse. Sutherland Avenue extended east only as far as Disraeli Street, and residents east of Disraeli were forced to use Point Douglas Avenue to access points westward, either by walking along it, or crossing it to Higgins Avenue.

"Has the city council given the street over entirely to the CPR?" an "interested ratepayer" wrote to the Winnipeg Telegram.
There was no meaningful way to access the rest of the city without accessing Point Douglas Avenue. Children living north of the tracks, who could not attend the crowded Norquay School on Euclid, would daily cross the mainline at McFarlane to attend Argyle School. The at-grade crossing at McFarlane Street had five tracks to cross, and "almost constantly there are cars standing on the Ogilvie [Flour Mill] switches," making it extremely dangerous to cross, particularly for young children, who "are apt to be heedless." People living here, the writer concluded, "are practically cut off from the protection and privileges enjoyed by the rest of the city."

In April, The Voice reported that John Wallace addressed a meeting of the Labor Party regarding the "heap of trouble that is stewing at a very persistent rate in the hearts of Point Douglas residents." Wallace called for Sutherland to be extended from Main Street to the Louise Bridge, and at no increased property tax rates for nearby residents, since their "only outlet," Point Douglas Avenue, had become gradually overtaken by the CPR without any compensation.

Point Douglas circa 1900 showing Sutherland Avenue ending at Disraeli St. Credit

In 1903, the C.P.R. began to construct a subway at Main Street under Point Douglas Avenue, which was opened to the public by November of 1904. The Company also promised to construct another further east.

Earlier that year, E.F. Hutchings, the wealthy saddle merchant and financier late of 47 Martha Street, came before Council on behalf of the Winnipeg and St. Andrew's Railway company, with a plan to build a railway line between Tyndall and Winnipeg, with the intention of delivering stone and sand to the booming city. Hutchings asked the City grant use of the Louise Bridge, recently vacated by the CPR, for the W&SAR. The line would come down either Point Douglas or Sutherland Avenue, terminating near Main Street.

Alderman Wood remarked that if the railroad brings more sand into the city, Council should support it, as he felt "many of them needed a little more sand." To this, the reporter went on, Alderman James G. Harvey "puffed vigorously at his pipe, the engineer suppressed a smile and City Clerk Brown meditatively stroked his whiskers." I guess you had to be there.

Story in the Telegram on a new railway plan for Point Douglas, June 1, 1904. Credit

Council informed Mr. Hutchings that they could not say for certain if a new track on Point Douglas Avenue, but did not see any objection to the W&SA using Sutherland.

Hutching's rail line was not constructed through Point Douglas. Sutherland Avenue was extended to the Louise Bridge by 1906, and both were not used for railways. While Point Douglas Avenue was given over almost exclusively to the CPR, the Company would build three more underpasses (at Higgins, Annabella, and Maple) in Point Douglas by the close of the decade.

At the time it could have been reasonably assumed that the residential enclave north of the mainline and east of Euclid would disappear, given over entirely to industry. These assumptions would be proven false, as a substantial enclave of residences still exist on streets like Stephen, Syndicate, and McFarlane. In the end, nothing--not railways or freeways, boom times or depressions; not too little planning at the turn of the 20th century, or too much planning in its second half--could make these ratepayers disappear entirely.