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Introduction

Whether you are a visitor to our community, are researching your family roots, need background on an historic building or are just interested in local history, this website is your one-stop source of information on our heritage. 

The site offers you a glimpse of the history of Dufferin Municipality from the pre-settlement era to the post–1870 influx of homesteading families, and from the arrival of the railways to the rise and decline of the small towns and communities along its path.

You will also discover the wealth of historic buildings, cairns, plaques and other heritage resources that our communities have to offer.

Let us know of any omissions or errors. If you have information or photos you’d like to share, please contact us.

Email: [email protected]   

Please visit our Acknowledgements page, which recognizes the many people who contributed towards making the website possible, including the backbone of any endeavour—the volunteers who contributed material, researched, edited or proofread content, and gave in so many ways of their time and talents.

 

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Carman/Dufferin Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (C/D MHAC)

Who Are We?

C/D MHAC advises Councils of the Town of Carman and RM of Dufferin on heritage matters and promotes local heritage.

The Heritage Resources Act (1986) provides authority for the municipalities to designate and protect local heritage resources and to develop initiatives that will encourage, support, educate and promote the management and sustainability of historic resources in the community.
C/D MHAC was established to serve as an advisory committee to the RM of Dufferin and Town of Carman Councils on matters relating to local heritage.

What Do We Do?

The committee has a mandate is to work with the Town of Carman and RM of Dufferin Councils to identify and preserve local heritage resources and to provide opportunities for public awareness, education and participation in heritage conservation. Learning about local heritage is a time-tested activity with many positive outcomes, not the least of which is the development of local pride and a feeling of identity and rootedness in the community.

Equally importantly, studying local heritage nourishes curiosity about broader historical questions, and provides students with the opportunity to develop the tools of historical inquiry using resources that are close to home.

Over the past several years, C/D MHAC has worked in close collaboration with the Historic Resources Branch of the Manitoba Government to implement several key heritage projects including designation of Municipal Heritage Sites, recognition of local Heritage Certificate Sites, and development of the heritage website. The Committee has installed signs to commemorate abandoned settlements, former schools, local businesses, and special places such as Missouri Trail and the old Carman Swimming Hole.  Other projects of note include digitalizing early local newspapers and preparing heritage tour brochures, a guide to local cemeteries and inventories of heritage resources in local communities. C/D MHAC also assists individuals with heritage research, mounts displays at community events and works closely with other community groups to identify and promote local heritage.

Since 2010, C/D MHAC has submitted CDMHAC Heritage Resource Management Plans outlining the committee’s objectives for the following year (s) along with proposed strategies and activities for achieving these goals. Annual interim reports outline our progress and budgetary requirements for the coming year.  Projects are made possible by funding provided through the Town of Carman and RM of Dufferin Councils and by heritage grants, along with substantial volunteer service.

Memorial Hall
Carman Memorial Hall

The Memorial Hall in Carman houses offices of the two local governments. The building is a designated Municipal Heritage Site.

Current Projects

For more information on Current Projects see the CDMAC Heritage Resource Management Plans. CDMHAC Heritage Resource Management Plans

Completed Projects

Contact: [email protected]

Early Boyne Swimming Hole - near Art (‘Beaver’) Hand’s home. Note the height of the diving board on the right.
Swinging Rope - The thrill and terror of jumping off the swinging rope into the Boyne.
Hiking along the Boyne – a great place for exploring nature
Boating on the Boyne – sisters Allie & Mabel Clark boating ca. 1900
Spring Floods on the S. Boyne (1933) tore out rail lines as water from the escarpment drained into the Boyne.
Spring flood in Carman 1893. Villard Ave. looking north. Flooding was common before the diversion was constructed.
Breaking the prairie sod – ‘mixed farming’ ca. 1900.
Seeding the land.
Cutting grain with binder.
Threshing near Roseisle 1909.
Running the sawmill – when trees were a major ‘crop’.
Elevators at Carman early 1900s – shipping the grain.
The Clendenning Mill was built in 1879 on NW 24-6-5w, just west of the Boyne Settlement and operated until 1914. Powered first by water, then with more efficient steam, the mill processed grain into flour and other cereal products as well as operating a sawmill.
Carman Roller Mills. This second mill was built in 1897 beside the CPR tracks east of Villard Ave. (Main St. S) close to the Northern Elevator.
The first Carman Brickyard opened in 1895, northeast of the first Carman Hospital, operating three kilns & producing up to 1 million bricks annually. It closed around 1907, possibly in anticipation of opening of the second Carman brick and tile plant.
The Carman Brick and Tile plant was built on the northwest side of town. The plant began production in April, 1914 but closed shortly thereafter, possibly due to declining domestic demands during WWI or failure to access raw materials from sources west of Carman.
One of many local sawmills in the Dufferin area. Early communities had a number of small sawmills that met local needs for lumber long after the main supply of high quality building logs was depleted.
Harvesting cordwood was another major part of the local economy. Hundreds of cords of wood were shipped from farms and woodlots along the escarpment to sawmills and homes as far east as Sperling.
Memorial Hall (1920– ): exterior view of the Memorial Hall. The exterior of the building will remain unchanged during renovations, in keeping with its heritage status.
Ladies’ Rest Room ca. 1925: where ladies met and socialized in early years. Later used as the Council Chamber. Now office space.
Graduation Ceremonies: 1952 Carman Collegiate graduation in the upper floor theatre. It was used for graduation ceremonies until the 1960s when the new collegiate opened.
Memorial Hall Theatre: Drama Club and other theatre productions provided entertainment in the upper floor of the building.
Amateur Night Program: Radio station CJOB hosted a local amateur show in support of a mobile TB screening clinic. Times change—note the sponsor.
Amateur Night Program: - Side B of same program from 1947 Amateur Night held at the Memorial Hall. Anyone here you remember?
In winter, the open cutter was fine, provided you had a fur coat and heavy robes.
For heavier winter hauling, two-ox power teams and sleds did the trick.
Single horse-power is fine for this young driver.
Ladies on wheels. Note the improvised chain guard to protect long skirts.
Railways relocated settlements and expanded the scope of travel and trade.
The ads worked—family outing in 1913 Ford Model T.
First Carman Hospital, located on five acres of land on 2nd St SE, opened in 1905.
A Nurses’ Residence (right) housed staff and students in the nurse training program.
Graduating nurses and matron, Class of 1911, Carman General Hospital.
Nurses in an unaccustomed break from work at a tea party on the lawn in early 1900s.
Drs. H.W. North, E.K. Cunningham, A. McGavin with last graduating class, 1947.
Carman Memorial Hospital, Carman’s second hospital, opened in 1949.
Anyone passing the corner of Villard (Main St.) and Walnut (2nd Ave. SE) between 1928 and 1958 would have viewed this massive rink on the east side of the street. Rinks have long been a central feature of winter sports in Carman. The first Carman rink was built in 1898 on Fournier St. (1st. St SW) near present location of Toews Printing (The History of the R.M. of Dufferin in Manitoba 1880-1980, p.278). The second rink, shown in this photo, was the local focal point for hockey, skating and curling from 1928 to 1958 when the roof crumbled under the weight of snow.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church was designed by architect Edmund Watson and built by local contractor, R. McKinney and mason George McCormick. Services were held here until 1941, when the congregation joined what is now the Carman United Church. The building was sold in 1945 to the Church of Christ.
For many years, the building on the NW corner of Villard St. and Walnut Ave. (Main & 2nd) housed a grocery store. Around 1909, A. E. Hill sold the store to R.D. McKee, the owner when this photo was taken in 1912. Other occupants over the years include the Carmania (groceries and restaurant), Red and White Store (groceries) and Carman Radio & TV.
From 1896 until 1946, a two-story building occupied this site at what was then known as the corner of Fournier St. and Maple Ave. The Victoria Hall, on the second floor, was a busy venue for meetings and other events such as theatre productions. The main floor housed clothing stores. Among the early owners were Frank Harris (1898) and Richard Hart (1906). In 1924, F.C. Harris took over his uncle’s men’s wear business—at that time located on Maple St.—and moved it back to this site. When the building was destroyed by fire in 1946, F.C. Harris rebuilt the store and started carrying a line of shoes as well as men’s clothing. This is one of several Carman sites C/D MHAC has recognized through our Business Sign project.
1st Ave. SW (formerly Maple Ave.)
Carman Heritage Tour: A Journey Through History
R.M. of Dufferin: Tour of Heritage Sites
Carman Dufferin Cemeteries: Guide to Local Cemeteries
Carman United Church
Carman United Church
Bates Town Site
Ostrander School #113 Cairn
SIGN-Ryall-Hotel-plaque
Roseisle-Rose-cropped-2
Pembina-Country-(2)
Missouri Trail Sign
Missouri-Trail-old
Louis-Riel
Kennedy-plaque-final-small
Ilets-de-Bois-sign-Bev-MacLean
CDMHAC-heritage-sign-Warkentin
cairn-tracy-school (1)
St. Peter and Paul Church
cairn-st-daniel-school (1)
cairn-garnett-school
Heritage Management

Effective Heritage Management strategies provide support to any kind of local heritage endeavour.

This is crucial because a community’s identity is firmly rooted in its heritage character, and its claims to uniqueness and individuality—upon which anything from tourism to middle school projects to local pride may rest—depend on how it cares for its heritage resources.

Can knowledge of the Past help us plan for the future? That’s the question that has been in our thoughts since we were invited to meet with other local organizations to share insights and perspectives on the future of the community. What might local heritage contribute to the discussion?

The visitor who in the lovely Manitoba summer days, stops at the town of Carman, romantically . . . abound on every hand of our fair town

Heritage is often seen by communities in terms of tourism – museums, heritage sites, the house where so-and-so was born, or statues that are in some way symbolic of the area – think pumpkins, turtles, or in Carman/Dufferin area, the namesake Roseisle Rose.

Perhaps, through hindsight, knowledge of local heritage also can identify strengths and limitations of the community and in that way help define our future. In Carman/Dufferin, a number of tools, activities, community groups and institutions are involved in these endeavors. The following pages capture some of their activities.