Happyland Park was an amusement park 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, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, Canada. Construction started on May 1, 1906, on of land between Aubrey and Dominion streets.

Portage Avenue Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

bounded it to the north and 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. The Assiniboine is a typical meandering river with a sing ...

was to the south. Today this area is part of the Wolseley neighbourhood of Winnipeg. The total cost to construct the park was about $150,000 and were illuminated by 12,000 lights. The main side of the park fronted of the south side of Portage Avenue with a high wooden fence sporting the word "Happyland" and advertisements detailing the amusements to be found inside. The park opened to the public on May 23 1906. The main attraction at Happyland Park was the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

games. The

Winnipeg Maroons The Winnipeg Maroons were a minor League baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, which played in the Northern League from 1902–1942. Their home field from 1906 to 1922 was Happyland Park, which had a seating capacity Seating ...

would play American teams of the Northern League from

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

, Grand Forks, Fargo, etc. The first game, attended by 4,000 fans, was held on May 24, 1906. It saw the home team lose 7 to 5 to the visiting Duluth team. By 1914 the owners of the Park had sold off a portion of the land for private residential development. The park closed in 1922. Another park of the same name exists today in St. Boniface. In

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film i ...

's ''

My Winnipeg ''My Winnipeg'' is a 2007 Canadian film directed and written by Guy Maddin with dialogue by George Toles. Described by Maddin as a "docu-fantasia", that melds "personal history, civic tragedy, and mystical hypothesizing", the film is a surrealist m ...

'', the signage and other materials are used in a rooftop homeless encampment.

References

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External links

Manitoba Historical SocietyHappyland (Winnipeg)
Defunct amusement parks in Canada Sports venues in Winnipeg 1906 establishments in Manitoba 1922 disestablishments in Manitoba Downtown Winnipeg