FORKS NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

                   An Interesting Site and Fun Afternoon

        In Winnipeg, Manitoba, the historic site is part of the Forks Complex, a 56 acre site, built in 1988, at the junction of the Red and Assiniboini rivers. The Forks is a crossroads, meeting of the old and the new, meeting of diverse peoples, and a place for people to meet, work, and play.   The complex contains markets of all kinds, a public market, shops, eateries and restaurants.

       The adjoining park contains many bike and walking trails with many interpretive displays. A children’s museum, and an aboriginal ceremonial pit, with some interesting art surrounding it, are also part of the complex. An old four story warehouse has been converted to a shopping plaza, housing unique shops and more restaurants.

We wandered the many shops, and the public market. The tables in the market place and solariums were full, so we decided to go inside a restaurant for lunch. Mid afternoon, we chose Branagans, and requested a window table, so we could watch the activity outside.

After this pleasant respite, we climbed the observation tower for a look over the complex. Then we

Aboriginal ceremonial pit at Forks

wandered through the park, took some pictures, and read many of the interpretive markers. Suddenly the day was gone.    

We spent a couple of days in isolated Winnipeg on our way to Churchill to see the polar bears. We enjoyed our stay at the national historic Fort Garry Hotel.  The old Grand Trunk Pacific Railway built the hotel in 1913 and it has defined the skyline and been a symbol of Winnipeg's importance as a North American transportation hub ever since. The chateau style architecture first found expression in the magnificent railway hotels built across Canada in the early 1900s. Similar hotels can be found at Lake Louise and Victoria, B C as well as other Canadian cities. By the 1950s, the chateau style, with its steep rooflines, expansive wall surfaces, turrets, ornately decorated windows, and lavish ornamentation, was internationally acknowledged as distinctly Canadian.

Originally the hotel was to be called The Selkirk, but instead was named The Fort Garry after Upper Fort Garry, which once stood at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Today all that remains is the gate in a little park just east of the hotel. It was the northern entrance to the fort. One enters the hotel lobby through an impressive front door only to see a grand staircase in the spacious 44 by 66 foot lobby. The Napoleon grey marble floor with inlaid Belgian black marble supports the high-beamed ceilings and heavy Corinthian pillars supporting the overlooking mezzanine gallery. Looking up one can’t miss the glittering chandelier. The brass mailbox beside the elevators is original.

There are numerous other features to the hotel, these happen to be the ones that grabbed my eye and interest. It was great fun to stay at the historic hotel and I imagined what fun a child might have had years ago playing hide and seek behind the red velvet drapery.

You may also want to check post: Oak Hammock Interpretative Center 2/512 

Winnipeg 6/17/12,    Tundra buggies 1/9/11    Polar Bear jail 9/21/10