Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Winnipeg - Bullseye of the Dominion

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About

At the end of the 19th Century and at the start of the 20th, this city was the scene of one of the great dramas of Canadian history.

For thousands of years aboriginal peoples have followed the rhythm of the seasons, coming to this place to meet and trade. That timeless way of life, however, was about to be decisively interrupted. The establishment of a trading post in the 1800s was a sign of the change outsier. Forces in motion thousands of kilometres away--empire and nation building, capitalism and commerce--would bring people to the Forks, hundreds of thousands of them.

After 1870 the history of this place entered a new phase. The population of Winnipeg, as it became known, doubled, and then doubled again, and again. The 250 people who called Winnipeg home in 1870 had grown to over 150,000 by 1913. Astonished observers predicted a population of a million within a decade.

What drove this boom? Why did these people come here? Who were they?

This walking tour uses photos from those exciting times to chart that remarkable journey. Beginning at Portage and Main, where Winnipeg as we know it began, we'll continue north up Main Street through the railway booms and busts and the establishment of Winnipeg as the metropolis of the Canadian West. Finally we'll complete our journey near City Hall, and experience the wild exhilaration people felt at the peak of the boom, when anything seemed possible and Winnipeg's potential was without limit.

Links

• Learn more about On This Spot onthisspot.ca
• Download in the Apple App Store (iOS) apps.apple.com
• Download in the Google Play Store (Android) play.google.com

Organizer

On This Spot

On This Spot​ guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.

On This Spot​ strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.