There’s a little known remnant of an important part of Winnipeg’s history still standing on Clare Avenue in the Riverview neighbourhood. This yellow house rising above its neighbours was once the superintendent’s building of River Park. The last standing piece of the park. 1/8

Winnipeg Street Railway Company wanted to run electric streetcars instead of horse drawn, but City Hall thought they would be dangerous and only allowed them outside of downtown. The Park Line running down Osborne Street became the first electric streetcar in Canada in 1891. 2/8

To provide a destination at the end of the Park Line, the rail company bought a large piece of riverfront property and built River Park in 1891, with sports fields, a dance hall, racetrack, zoo, and amusement park. 3/8

The records at the time would show that almost 50 per cent of the population of Winnipeg would visit the Park on a summer days. The key attraction was a 13 dip wooden roller coaster named Deep Dipper. Cars would get up to 70 km/h. 4/8

The superintendent’s building is the little square on this plan of the site, shown above the words Dance Pavilion. Today it is just a single family home on a residential street. 5/8

The Superintendent’s building can be seen in the background of this photo from the 1930’s, behind a full mini locomotive attraction that circled the park. 6/8

The Park closed in 1942 and the land was sold to create new housing and the park that exists along Churchill Drive. You can today see a distinct line where houses change from turn of the century to mid century style along Clare Avenue where the park once began. 7/8

There is a commemorative park on Osborne Street with a streetcar replica, but the only original piece of River Park still standing, is the anonymous house on Clare Avenue. 8/8