Upper Fort Garry was built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1830's. It served the fur trade until 1870, then became the seat of government for the District of Assiniboia. During the boom of 1885, all the fort (except for one gate) was demolished to make way for more profitable land use.
The northern gateway of Upper Fort Garry, all that remains of the Hudson's Bay Company trading post that stood on this site, is preserved in a park on Main Street opposite the VIA Station. For almost halfacentury, this fort was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in Western Canada.
A Federal plaque on the gateway outlines the history of several forts that stood in the vicinity. Upper Fort Garry, built between 1834 and 1837 at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, was the fur trading centre for the Red River settlement, which doubled in size by 1853-54. It also served as the seat of government for the District of Assiniboia and the Red River settlement.
Today, the only remnant of the fort is the stone gate. Wooden walls which surrounded the northern half of Upper Fort Garry and the gate have been restored.
More details and to view an aerial map showing the location of the Fort in relation to the buildings currently on this location.
Two Manitoba Heritage Council plaques commemorate the formal proclamation of the Red River Settlement by Miles Macdonell, first governor of the District of Assiniboia, on September 4th, 1812.
With the reading of the patent and his commission, Macdonell took possession of the lands granted by the Hudson's Bay Company to the Earl of Selkirk.
Two Manitoba Heritage Council plaques commemorate the beginnings of St. Boniface, the arrival of Jean Baptiste Lagimodiere and Marie-Anne Gaboury to settle on Seine River lots in 1817, and the establishment of the first permanent school and mission in the West by Fathers Provencher and Dumoulin in 1818/19.
This monument honours Pierre Gaultier de La Verendrye. He and his sons were the first white men to travel west by the Great Lakes chain to reach the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
La Verendrye is credited with having erected the first permanent structure - Fort Rouge - on the site of the future City of Winnipeg in 1738. From the Forks, La Verendrye explored much of the country west, opening it up to the fur trade.
This is the first Presbyterian Church in Western Canada, constructed in 1854. It was erected under the direction of the Reverend John Black, the first resident Presbyterian minister who came to Kildonan in 1851, nearly 40 years after the arrival of the first Presbyterian settlers.
Duncan McRae, an important Red River Settlement stone mason, supervised the work. A Manitoba Heritage Council plaque is located on the church grounds.