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Introduction


Overview


We have attempted to relate these site to the history of the region through a series of short articles on:

1. Historic Claims of the area
2. Analysis Critera - Where sites fit in terms of the Community Heritage
3. Community Layout
4. Notable People (See the Notable People Project)

The project is intended as a "Beginning" rather than a Finished Product. Local groups and individuals are invited to amend and add to it. New information is always welcome and we will make every effort to add anthing that is sent to us.

One goal is to collect as much information about our older buildings as we can. This will be found in the Sites section, and we would appreciate corrections, additions, comments and questions as we complete the project.

 
Community Historical Claims

By the end of the settlement era three sets of railway tracks crossed the Municipality of Pipestone. In 1892, the C.P.R. line had been extended from Souris into the northern part of the R.M. and would eventually create the towns of Pipestone, Reston and Sinclair. In 1907 a branch of the C.N.R. cut across and the southern reaches putting Scarth, Woodnorth, Cromer and Butler on the map. Shortly thereafter, the C.P.R. created the Reston-Wolseley line giving birth to Ewart and Ebor. By 1908, farmers throughout the municipality had reliable connections with the rest of the province allowing much easier marketing of their produce and much improved access to agricultural equipment and consumer goods.

While the first towns may not have appeared until after 1890, the region itself already had a long and interesting history. The wooded valley of the Pipestone had long been a place of shelter, a gathering place for various aboriginal peoples and a buffalo hunting ground. 

In 1881 the arrival of the transcontinental railway, first at Brandon, then quickly extended to Oak Lake and Virden, allowed settlers easier access to this territory.

The first settlers in the Pipestone Valley were Dan  McKinnon and A. McLean who arrived on May 28th, 1881. They were followed within days by William and James Lothian. 

Some of these first settlers came with the hope that a rail line would soon cross the district. In the meantime the people of Pipestone had to make long trips for supplies and to market their produce. That didn’t stop them from establishing farms schools and churches, raising families and generally getting on with life.

For the first ten years after farming operations commenced, the scattered rural nature of settlement in the area was characterized by various small rural centres: often just a post office, usually in a farm home; and perhaps a school which might double as a church and community hall. Lanark School and nearby Reston Post Office, which was located on the Bullock farm, was one such community, often in those days just referred to as, “The Settlement”.  Elm Valley School and Post Office in the Cromer Area was another centre to the west. Manda and Woodnorth Post Offices were central and Belleview was on the eastern edge of the district.




This map was created prior to 1890. The locations identified as “Reston” and “Pipestone” refer to Post office locations as the railway (and the villages) had not yet arrived.

Across Manitoba the arrival rail lines triggered the creation of villages, typically centred around a railway station, elevator(s) and a cluster of services. Schools and post offices were then generally moved to new locations in the village.

The establishment in 1892 of the towns of Pipestone and Reston in the midst of well-populated and productive farmland led to an initial burst of commercial enterprises. The usual banks, general stores, drug and jewellery stores appeared. Some of these would naturally be housed in quickly erected frame buildings, but soon a few noteworthy buildings such as the stone G.S. Monroe Store, the brick Berry House and the Berry Block in Reston;  and the frame Pipestone Presbyterian Church in the village of Pipestone, were erected, all of which remain. Several commercial buildings from the beginning of the 20th century created a downtown streetscape in Reston, the general outline of which does still exist today.  Many fine homes also remain from that era.



Reston in 1912.
Photo from “Trails Along the Pipestone”


In most Manitoba communities, the “Establishment” era is defined by the replacement of “Pioneer” log, sod and rough lumber buildings by more ambitious constructions of milled lumber. With that definition in mind the towns in the municipality of Pipestone can be said to have almost skipped the Pioneer stage and proceeded directly to Establishment.

The rural areas of course did go through these phases. The Consolidation period can be said to have started in the early 1900’s with the erection of the several “downtown” brick blocks in Reston, the Arlington Hotel in Pipestone, and retail expansion in general.

In the early years of the twentieth century Reston consolidated its position as the primary trading centre for the region while Pipestone, though a vibrant community, offered more limited commercial services.




Sinclair, Manitoba, ca. 1910
Photo from “Trail Along the Pipestone”



Sinclair was created a little later and also offered a modest, though vital, range of services. The villages created later along the subsequent branch lines were always quite small but served their role. Rinks and community halls, elevators and general stores gave a physical presence to the even stronger underlying reality – the sense of community.



This map from 1918 shows the changed brought by the railway.

As the R.M. of Pipestone looks forward to the next century it has taken steps to preserve important aspects of its past, including the creation of the Reston Museum, the designation of several buildings, most notably, the attractive Pipestone Municipal Office in Reston and a rare C.P.R. Engine House.

Analysis Criteria

 Aboriginal Peoples

The Canupawakpa Sioux reserved was established in the 1870’s with the final (and present) location settled in 1877. Sioux had been occasional visitors to this part of Manitoba for nearly two centuries, generally in conflict with local Assiniboines. Several small groups looked to Canada as a refuge after the most notable historic clashes with the U.S. Army in 1862 and 1876.

Settlers and Defining Culture

By 1881 a trickle of settlers, largely from Ontario approached the district from the north having taken river the new C.P.R. line west from Winnipeg as far as it went and using oxen to haul their good the rest of the way.  The beginning of regular railway service to Brandon brought many more in the spring of 1882, also mainly from Ontario. The area was well settled by the time the railway arrived in 1890.

Other Settlement/Ethnic Groups

Beginning in 1892 a number of settlers of Icelandic origin settled in the Sinclair region, many of these came from the R.M. of Argyle, about 100 km to the east, where a large Icelandic settlement, started in 1881, was perhaps short of homestead options by this time.

Economic Engines

Farming formed the economic basis of virtually all prairie settlements but many communities sought to enhance the agriculture by encouraging some local “value added” processing. In Pipestone, where settlement preceded the arrival of a rail link by a decade, the relative proximity to the main C.P.R. likely rendered local grist and lumber mills unnecessary.

Commercial Growth

The towns of Pipestone and Reston, typical of the “Railway” towns of the era, saw an initial burst of commercial enterprises; banks, general stores, farm supply dealers, drug and jewelry stores, which appeared to supply eager consumers who had been settled in the region for years.

They were the first towns in the region and they remain the dominant commercial centres today. The creation of two branch lines in the early 1900’s extended services into all parts of the municipality and created smaller regional villages that fulfilled an important economic and social role. Scarth, Woodnorth, Cromer and Butler were established on the C.N. line that crossed the northern part of the municipality from east to west. Ewart and Ebor were on the Reston-Wolesley C.P. Branch that angled north-west from Reston. The commercial utility of these centres faded as the improved mobility of consumers, the “rationalization” of rail lines and grain delivery, and the changing nature of farming each had its impact. Their social/cultural role as centres of community activities is still evident. Of these villages, Cromer retains some commercial services today while Woodnorth retains some of its village character. In the remainder a cairn, a well-tended graveyard, and a few scattered buildings tell the story.

The exploitation of regional oil reserves has created a renewed economic activity in the area, the full results of which are yet to be seen.

Social & Cultural Development

The settlement of the region began in earnest with the arrival of Dan McKinnon, A. McLean and the Lothian brothers in 1881.

For the first ten years after farming operations commenced, communities were identified by their post office or school. The towns of Pipestone and Reston were quickly established, with the arrival of the first rail line in 1891 and service was improved with additional lines in the early 1900’s and the creation of the villages along those new lines. The re-alignment of communities around the new villages changed the dynamics of commercial, social, and spiritual life for the citizens of Pipestone. Religious services that had taken place in homes and schools were moved to the newly erected Churches. Grain and livestock need only be taken as far as the railway station. Shopping for consumer goods and agricultural supplies was done in local outlets. Dances, performances and all manners of entertainment and cultural activities moved to community halls. All these things and more made the village the community focal point.


Community Form and Layout

Reston

The layout of the village of Reston, as with the other villages in Pipestone, was a direct response to the railway line to which it owes its existence. Like many prairie communities, it grew primarily on one (north) side of the tracks.

The railway runs west-east and the town was surveyed to conform. First Avenue runs parallel to the track and of the grid of side streets running northwards, Fourth Street evolved as the primary business street.

That Reston grew quickly and confidently is not surprising in that the community with its agricultural base well developed by the time the rail line arrived. There was very little speculation or uncertainty about its potential importance as a service centre and very little fanfare and boosting. It was as if it knew exactly what it was going to be. The building that followed the arrival of the rail line established both the limits and pattern of a layout which has remained relatively unchanged.

Pipestone

Pipestone was the first town established in the municipality as the railway approached westward from Souris. Housing and basic businesses sprang up on the north side of the tracks, with some services along First Avenue, parallel to the tracks (east-west) and the main retail outlets on a side street (Fourth Street). Its form and layout is retained today.

Other Villages

The small villages of Woodnorth, Cromer, Sincalir and Ebor each feature a modest grid of streets in a layout still evident today. Scarth, Butler and Ewart were even less urban in concept and appearance.





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