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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Party for Portage and Main
Dale Zeke serves birthday cake to Megan Smith (right) and Rachel Beaupre (centre). (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ) Photo Store
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Winnipeg's most famous intersection had a birthday party, after all.
The public was welcomed at the corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street on Friday to enjoy birthday cake and celebratory music to mark the intersections's 150th year.
Earlier this week, Free Press columnist Gordon Sinclair Jr. noted publicly it appeared no organization, including the City of Winnipeg, had plans to celebrate the significant event.
His column prompted Creswin Properties Inc., which owns property at the corner, to host a party and welcome everyone. On Friday, the city issued a press release noting the intersection's birthday.
"The joining of the Main Road (Main Street) and the westward cart road (Portage Avenue) to form our now-famous intersection occurred on June 2, 1862, when Henry McKenney and his business partner, John Christian Schultz, purchased Lot 248 from Andrew McDermot, with the intention of building a store where the north-south and east-west roads crossed," said the city's release, citing the paper: The Man Who Created the Corner of Portage and Main, which was published as part of the Historical and Scientific Society of Manitoba Transactions.
"The roads -- known today as Portage Avenue and Main Street -- existed long before 1862. By the early 1860s, Main Street was well-established and linked Upper Fort Garry to Lower Fort Garry. Portage Avenue was referred to variously as the Western Trail, Portage la Prairie Road and Portage Road and served mainly as a trail for carts going west."
-- staff
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 2, 2012 A9
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