Winnipeg Beach
Encyclopedia
Interlake Region, Manitoba
Manitoba's Interlake is the name given to a region in the Canadian province of Manitoba. As the name indicates, it lies roughly between Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba and comprises 14 rural municipalities, one city , six towns and one village, Dunnottar...
, in the Canadian province of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
. The town was founded in 1900 by Sir William Whyte and is located at the junction of Highway 9
Manitoba Provincial Highway 9
Provincial Trunk Highway 9 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It runs from Winnipeg north to Gimli....
and Highway 229 on the southwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg is a large, lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about north of the city of Winnipeg...
, about 35 miles (56.3 km) north of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. It is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Gimli
Gimli, Manitoba
Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...
, the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews
St. Andrews, Manitoba
St. Andrews is a rural municipality in Manitoba, Canada. It is located to the north-east of Winnipeg and the Red River demarcates the eastern boundary of the municipality. St. Andrews contains the communities of Clandeboye, Petersfield, and Lockport . It is part of Manitoba census division 13....
, and the Rural Municipality of Dunnottar
Dunnottar, Manitoba
Dunnottar is a Municipality in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The Municipality - often referred to as the 'Village of Dunnottar' - is located on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, just off Highway 9, south of Winnipeg Beach. The Municipality encompasses the towns of Ponemah, Whytewold, and Matlock....
as well as Lake Winnipeg. Its permanent population is 1,017 (2006). Nearby towns are Ponemah, Whytewold, and Matlock (all to the South), Gimli, and Sandy Hook, (located to the North), as well as Teulon
Teulon, Manitoba
Teulon is a community located approximately 60 kilometers north of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on Provincial Truck Highway 7. Located between Stonewall and Gimli, Teulon is commonly referred to as "The Gateway to the Interlake" and "The Petunia Capital of Manitoba"...
, and Selkirk
Selkirk, Manitoba
Selkirk is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba, located about 22 km northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg on the Red River, near . As of the 2006 census, Selkirk had a population of 9,515....
.
History
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) purchased 32 acres (12.9 ha) of undeveloped shoreline 65 kilometres north of Winnipeg on the southwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg and commenced construction of a resort town. In addition to the attraction of a three kilometre stretch of sandy beach, the CPR also built and offered an array of accommodation, recreation, and amusement facilities, including a prominent dance hall.
In the early 1900s, ritzy hotels lined the main street of Winnipeg Beach. Piers, parks and picnic grounds were constructed to accommodate the weekend masses that would travel to Winnipeg Beach from the nearby capital city. By 1913, the summer retreat had become so popular that the CPR had 13 trains running the line between the beach and the City of Winnipeg. The famous Moonlight Special returned to the city at midnight every Saturday for fifty years. The round trip fare was only fifty cents.
A boardwalk took strollers along the beach to the carnival concessions and cottages. A wooden roller coaster was one of the largest in the country at the time and carried hundreds of passengers on a busy day. The Pavilion housed a 14000 square feet (1,300.6 m²) dance floor, reputed to be the largest in Western Canada.
The romance of Winnipeg Beach began to wane during the 1950s, and although the beach itself still remained a popular destination, in 1964 the amusement park was permanently closed.
Water tower
.jpg)
Today
After the closure of the resort and amusement facilities at Winnipeg Beach, the Province of Manitoba attempted to revitalize the town by creating a recreation park in the 1960s, with various improvements to the beach and the parks lining it. A restaurant and lounge and several change-room structures were built, in addition to a large parking lot. The recreation park continues to be a popular destination for beachgoers. The Town has also built a Skateboarding park, to stimulate the youth community.
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
TV series Falcon Beach
Falcon Beach
Falcon Beach is a Canadian television show, filmed at Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba, Canada, and produced in Canada for the Canadian and American markets. It originally aired in 2005 as a movie on Global in Canada. It was produced as a TV series for Global and ABC Family in 2006...
was filmed in the town during the summers of 2005–2006. The town is also home to Manitoba raku
Raku
Raku-yaki is a type of Japanese pottery that is traditionally used in the Japanese tea ceremony, most often in the form of tea bowls...
artist Gary McKague.
Several different residential summer camps lie just north of the town.
The town is governed by a mayor (currently Tony Pimentel) and a five-member town council.