Armstrong's Point (informally referred to as The Gates) is a neighbourhood in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. It is located in the West End of the city and in a large bend in the

Assiniboine River The Assiniboine River (''; french: Rivière Assiniboine'') is a river that runs through the prairies of Western Canada in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It is a tributary of the Red River of the North, Red River. The Assiniboine is a typical meand ...

. The land was developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a residential district.

History

The

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

deeded the land to Joseph Hill who arrived at

Red River of the North The Red River (french: rivière Rouge or ) is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, it fl ...

in 1849 with a Pensioner Regiment. The area was originally called Point-a-Peltier. In 1854, returning to England, Hill put James Armstrong (1790-1874) in charge of the property. Hearing of Hill's death, the property was sold to

Francis Evans Cornish Francis Evans Cornish (February 1, 1831 – November 28, 1878) was a Canadian politician. He served as Mayor of London, Canada West, in the early 1860s, became the first Mayor of Winnipeg in 1874, and was for a time a member of the Legislati ...

, the first mayor of Winnipeg. In the early 1880s, Hill returned to Winnipeg, and reestablished his ownership of the land before selling it to a speculators' syndicate in April 1881 for $28,000. The speculators renamed the area Victoria Place, though officially it was known as Registered Plan 119. Cornish Library Winnipeg

During the period of 1880 through 1920, houses were built on its four roads, Cornish Avenue, East Gate, West Gate, and Middle Gate. The first home was completed in 1882.

Architecture

Some of the buildings in Armstrong's Point that are historically significant are: * 20 West Gate, the

Cornish Library The Cornish Library, is a branch of the Winnipeg Public Library, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Like the St. John's Library, the Cornish is one of two Carnegie libraries in the city. It is a Grade II listed building and a Winnipeg Landm ...

, completed in 1915 * 40 West Gate, which became the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Consulate * 54 West Gate, the

Ralph Connor Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

House, which became a National Historic Site * 86 West Gate, which became

Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Westgate Mennonite Collegiate is a grade 6 to 12 Mennonite private school in Winnipeg, Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada ...

(demolished 1989). * 134 West Gate, which became the

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ese Consulate * 158 West Gate, which became

St. John's-Ravenscourt School St. John's-Ravenscourt School (commonly referred to as SJR) is an independent, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1820. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the school delivers an enriched curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade ...

(demolished 1950).

Gates

The Gates at East Gate, West Gate, Middle Gate, were designed by the architect Lt. Col. Henry Norland Ruttan in 1911, and built in the same year. Flanking three entrances to the Winnipeg neighbourhood, they are nearly identical construction, built of stone and wrought-iron, and of

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

style. Funded by residents and built by the city's engineering department, the Gates are unique, having been built by the property owners instead of a real estate developer.

Politics

Armstrong's Point is represented by Sherri Rollins in the

city ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

of Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry at the municipal level,

Lisa Naylor Lisa Naylor is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2019 Manitoba general election.Bryce Hoye"Meet the rookies: Manitobans elect 13 first-time MLAs" CBC News Manitoba, September 11, 2019. She repr ...

in the constituency of Wolseley at the provincial level, and

Leah Gazan Leah Gazan (born April 8, 1972) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Winnipeg Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Early life Leah Gazan was born in Thompson, Manitoba ...

in the constituency of

Winnipeg Centre Winnipeg Centre (french: Winnipeg-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1925 and since 1997. History This riding was originally created in 1914 f ...

at the federal level. (For census data,

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

places Armstrong's Point as part of the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

community area). Overall, the neighbourhood is politically diverse and does not generally support any candidate with a large majority. Voter turnout for the 2008 federal election was 56%.

Demographics

The 2016 population of the neighbourhood was 370 people. The median household income in Armstrong's Point was $59,421.

References

;Sources
A Pictorial History of Early Armstrong's Point.
Guy, R.D., UM Digital Collections (Undated, possibly post-1950). ;Notes {{WinnipegNeighbourhoods Landforms of Manitoba Neighbourhoods in Winnipeg West End, Winnipeg