Photos emerge depicting St. Vital during 1950 flood

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/09/2016 (3283 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The backbone of any historical society is photographs of the past. Without photos and drawings, we are unable to see history and the St. Vital Historical Society is no exception.

The SVHS has a good collection of the most horrific event in the area’s 196-year history — the flood of 1950.

Two weeks ago, the SVHS received two more photos of the flood, which chronicled the devastation which saw 20,000 residents evacuated over the course of four days and ended with at least a metre of water covering St. Vital. Some areas, such as Elm Park and Kingston Crescent, saw the water rise to rooftop levels.

One of the latest photos shows the west side of St. Mary’s Road at its junction with St. Anne’s Road, in particular Dodd’s Drugs and the former post office. Dodd’s was located on the current green space just north of Miller’s Meats parking lot.

The other picture is St. Anne’s Road looking east on Imperial Avenue and is the first seen of Fryer’s Grocery and the Imperial Meat Market.

Among the many artifacts on display at the St. Vital Museum is a pie plate from Hagman’s Handy Hardware, which had locations at Hindley Avenue and St. Anne’s Road and at 1 St. Anne’s Rd.

The owners, Ella and Ernie Hagman, were pioneers in the St. Vital hardware business and used the motto: “If we don’t have it, we’ll find it. If we can’t find it, you don’t need it.”

Son Earl worked in the store and when forced out of business by the emergence of big box stores, he managed Dakota Bowling Lanes for years. When looking for photos of the hardware store, I was saddened to hear of Earl’s passing but I was able to connect with his son Jeff, who I’ll meet in a month or so.

The museum is always looking for photos of old St. Vital. Drop by any Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and they’ll be scanned and promptly returned.

The SVHS annual general meeting is set for Sat., Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. in the museum. All are invited to attend but must hold a valid membership to vote. All who purchase a 2017 membership will receive a free 2017 calendar.

Calendars are now on sale for $5 or three for $10.

Bob Holliday is a community correspondent for St. Vital. Email him at docholliday90@me.com