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Wednesday 23 May 2012

Let's blog a 150th birthday gift to Portage and Main ! UPDATED

UPDATE: The intersection DID have a 150th birthday party after all ! Gordon Sinclair Jr. of the Winnipeg Free Press picked up my blog post and wrote Shouldn't we get the party started ? Creswin Properties, owner of 201 Portage Avenue on the corner where it all started, stepped up and served cake and a musical interlude over the lunch hour to celebrate !

Portage and Main
Last week I asked people to post birthday wishes, images etc. for the famous intersection's 150th birthday. Here are the results so far.

From bloggy types, staring with mine:
- 7 stories about Portage and Main West End Dumplings
- Happy Birthday Portage & Main Love Me, Love My Wpg
- Portage and Main Turns 150! Slurpees and Murder
- Happy Birthday Portage and Main Winnipeg O' My Heart
- Happy Birthday Portage and Main the cold cold ground
- Portage and Main ca 1881 Rise and Sprawl
- Portage and Main 150 years strong Observations, Reservations, Conversations

From media-y types:
- Portage and Main turns 150 Breakfast Television (includes interview with me!)

From other groups, institutions:
- Heart of City turns 150 Heritage Winnipeg

Some oldies but goodies:
All roads lead to Portage and Main Wpg O' My Heart
Check out my Portage and Main Flickr set ! 

Original post (from May 23, 2012)

Portage and Main ca. 1872 (Heritage Winnipeg / J. Penrose)

The intersection of Portage and Main turns 150 on Saturday, June 2, 2012 !

It was on June 2, 1862 that Henry McKenney and John Christian Schultz finalized the deal for an out-of-the-way patch of land at the north -west corner of the intersection of two cart trails. They built their commercial establishments there, others built around them, and the rest is history !

So what birthday gift do you get for an intersection that has everything, (except pedestrians ?) How about something of the online variety?

Portage and Main
Street Hockey, May 31, 2011

Fellow bloggers - and other online types - how about we blog some birthday wishes?  

On Friday, June 1 post about Winnipeg's most famous intersection !

Post photos, historic images, tales from the past, a favourite story or perhaps what you'd like to see happen to it once the 40-year deal that closed it to pedestrian traffic expires in 2017, (which, in public works terms, is just around the corner.)

Also see: Shouldn't we get the party started ? by Gordon Sinclair in the Free Press

11 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I believe the possibility for the reopening of it to pedestrians again can happen in 2017, no?

Closing this famous intersection was a big mistake.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/citys-food-rules-make-me-gag-124150754.html

suburbanite.

Christian Cassidy said...

Good point Anon. I've seen both 2017 and 2019 used, more often it seems to be 2019. It was a 40 year deal signed in 1977 or so but the intersection didn't reopen until 1979 so I guess there's confusion was it a 40 year deal form the time it opened or the time construction started. I will look into that a bit mroe and see what year it is.

Adrian said...

this calls for a impromtu street party no?

Christian Cassidy said...

Thanks, Anon. i did a look back in FreeP articles and there are more 2017 mentions and just a couple of 2019 so I am changing my counter to a 2017 opening !

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
birthday gifts said...

gift are the remembrance of ones life

birthday gifts said...

gift are the symbol of love . so we have save our gift for the future remembrance.

Anonymous said...

gift are the symbol of love . so we have save our gift for the future remembrance.

Winnipeg Breakfast yum yum said...

Happy birthday Portage and Main! It`s important for us to celebrate the history we have here! No matter what anyone says, trying to compare Winnipeg to Toronto, or Vancouver is useless! Winnipeg is a beautiful and unique city with a very high quality of life! Congratulations, Mazel Tov, Felicitations and more to all of Winnipeg on this occasion!

maria said...

Most people wishes that someone gives surprise on their birthday. It really made them happy and automatic smile comes on their face.