How Winnipeg tried to switch from named to numbered streets

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This article was published 12/04/2015 (3893 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The early years of Winnipeg’s development can be described as chaotic, as it transformed from a settlement to a full-fledged city.

When it incorporated on Nov. 8, 1873, the city’s population was 1,869. By 1886, that number had ballooned to 20,000, and it stood at 28,000 by 1891. In those early years, the city struggled to keep up with the demands for the most basic services. The proper surveying of a street system to meet the needs of future growth was something city administrations would play catch-up on for decades to come.

The city’s first attempt at bringing order to its streets came in 1890, when it synchronized building numbers. Prior to that point, developers had a lot of latitude as to what number they chose, which led to confusion for emergency services and delivery drivers. Council passed a motion stating “the buildings on all streets running east and west are numbered from the (Red) river in such a way that No. 200 comes on the first building on the west side of Main Street.”

‘If Winnipeg originally had been laid out

by surveyors instead of meandering cows,

and if the pioneer urge to erect buildings in the most outlandish places had been squelched, Winnipeg would have little cause

to worry about town planning today’

— James Gray, Winnipeg Free Press column, Nov. 10, 1938

Similarly, corner buildings on streets running parallel to the Assiniboine River were numbered 100 at Broadway, 250 at Graham Avenue, and so on. By August 1890, 5,079 buildings had been renumbered, at a cost of $224.75.

The following year, the city embarked on more ambitious plan to convert its street names to numbers. Unlike some major American cities and many western Canadian cities whose formative years were influenced by railway development, Winnipeg had no orderly grid of numbered streets and avenues. Many of its major streets started out as trails that were graded and then hurriedly expanded to keep up with the burgeoning demand for more houses and commercial buildings.

The man behind the idea to replace the city’s street names was Alderman John B. Mather. Born in Ontario, he came to Winnipeg in 1881 to establish a grocery wholesale business. He was well-respected for his charitable work and involved in a number of Winnipeg institutions during their formative years, including a stint as the first president of the Manitoba Curling Association. Some touted him as a future mayor.

Mather was elected to city council in 1890 and appointed to the board of works. A true believer in Winnipeg becoming the Chicago of the North, he saw a numbered street-name system as necessary for the great expansion the city would see in the years to come.

At the board’s meeting on Feb. 19, 1891, Mather made a two-fold motion regarding the reorganization of Winnipeg’s streets. First, it stipulated all roads running north to south be called “streets” and those running east to west be called “avenues.” It would also impose numbered streets, whereby all streets and avenues would be numbered, starting with “1” at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Portage Avenue and Main Street were exceptions and would retain their original names. The motion passed, and it went on to the city solicitor and city surveyor to finesse it into a workable plan.

At the March meeting of the board, the city engineer presented a plan and a sample map. The city surveyor, said to be opposed to the scheme, did not attend. The new plan was more complicated than what Mather had first proposed. “Ground zero” of the numbered system would be the intersection of Portage Avenue and Notre Dame Street. The latter would be renamed Central Avenue and was the dividing line by which streets would be called “North” or “South.”

For example (keep in mind that since some streets do not match up in present-day Winnipeg), McDermot became 1st Avenue North, while Cumberland became 1st Avenue South. Bannatyne became 2nd Avenue North, and Sargent became 2nd Avenue South. William became 3rd Avenue North and Qu’Appelle became 3rd Avenue South. This numbering continued through to the North End, with Polson becoming 35th Avenue North and Athol (now Luxton) being renamed 36th Avenue North.

Streets were numbered in the same manner, starting with Albert as 1st Street North, while Fort became 1st Street South. King became 2nd Street North, and Garry 2nd Street South. Princess became 3rd Street North and Smith 3rd Street South. This continued northward to Home, which became 22nd Street South.

The system also pulled together collections of short streets that more or less aligned through the North End. One example is McGregor, Pentelope and Lula streets, which became 16th Street North.

On the evening of March 31, 1891, a special council meeting was held to discuss a number of public works items, including the introduction of the numbered streets. It passed as bylaw No. 502.

The changeover appears to have taken place in May. The Manitoba Free Press, an opponent of the change, noted the replacement of a large number of old street signs in its May 20, 1891 edition. “Having exterminated the street names McDermot, Bannatyne, Alexander, Logan and other relics of the historic past, the city fathers are burying the remains with promptness and dispatch.”

On May 22, it published a pocket guide of old and new street names with the quip, “In order to retard a little of the premature aging of our citizens, the Free Press extends them the following parallel list of old and new names.”

It took time for other guides to come on the market. Waghorn’s Street Guide appears to have been first out of the gate, on June 1. The Latimer Company’s “Map of the City Of Winnipeg shewing the streets as renamed by City Council in 1891” was released in July. The 1891 Henderson’s Directory, published in August, referred to both street names and numbers, though their 1892 and 1893 editions referenced only numbers.

The reaction of citizens was swift: They didn’t like the change. Numerous letters to the editor complaining about the confusion it created were published. The Winnipeg Tribune and Free Press both pointed out oddities with the new system: Fort Rouge retaining its street names, some short streets left out of the system, and multiple examples of collections of streets — such as Charlotte, Lizzie and Schultz — that combined to create 5th Street North, resulting in three houses with the number 57.

Most importantly, citizens and businesses did not convert to the new system. A scan of hundreds of newspaper pages turns up no examples of businesses using their numbered street address. The only convert was the city itself, which used them in their notices and tenders.

It did not take long for cracks to appear in city council’s resolve. At an April 1892 finance committee meeting, in the midst of a discussion about work that was needed on 3rd Avenue North, one alderman got up to ask what street they were talking about. It turned out to be William Avenue, which passes right by city hall. That led to a suggestion future council documents include the old street name in brackets next to the street number. The idea was swatted down by the city solicitor, who said it would set a bad precedent

The discussion carried over to the following council meeting. After a heated discussion, Alderman R.W. Jameson made a motion the numbered street system be dropped in favour of the old named system. It passed, seven to five. The matter was then referred back to the board of works, likely under pressure from Mayor Alexander Macdonald, who felt the new system needed to be given more time.

It was a sentiment shared by the Tribune, which urged caution in a May 1892 editorial, saying “No man of good sense will claim that… street numbers are not superior to names. If Winnipeg was destined to remain at its present size, the names would do very well, but we must look to the future and build accordingly.”

Jameson’s motion remained in a sort of purgatory at the board of works.

A year later, there was still no sign the new system was catching on. A delegation of letter carriers appeared at the June 1893 council meeting. Their data showed on any given day no more than four per cent of letters and packages were addressed to a numbered street, meaning the post office had to work under two entirely different street systems for the same city. They demanded Jameson’s motion be sent back to council for a vote.

In August, a special street name committee of council met, chaired by Jameson. It was their unanimous view the named system must be returned, but they wanted to ensure the switch could be done in an orderly fashion before the motion was sent back to council for a vote.

(Former alderman John B. Mather, whose motion led to the creation of the named system, had no say. He became ill at the end of 1891 with typhoid-like symptoms and died in January 1892.)

The committee made a couple of dozen recommendations. Many of the short North End streets that had been combined into one thoroughfare would not automatically convert back to their original names. The McGregor, Pentelope and Lula example above, for example, simply became McGregor Street. A number of duplicate street names had to be changed, because Fort Rouge, not affected by the change, had adopted some discarded central Winnipeg street names. This was also a chance to weed out similar-sounding names, such as changing Mary Street to Martha Street to avoid confusion with St. Mary Avenue. McWilliam became Atlantic Avenue to avoid confusion with William Avenue. Boundary Road was updated to Maryland Street, reflecting the westward expansion of the city.

On Oct. 16, 1893, Jameson rose to read his motion for the third time. It, along with the recommendations of his street name committee, passed. The city engineer was instructed to begin the process of replacing the city’s street signs.

 

Christian Cassidy explores local history on his blog, West End Dumplings. Check it out for a link to the 1891 Henderson Directory’s street-name-to-street-number conversion list.