The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2009, Qupperneq 16

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 62 #3
Hydro building, which is ergonomically
designed and environmentally constructed.
On the corner of Memorial Boulevard and
Portage Avenue is The Bay, one of the last
department stores left in Canada. The
Hudson Bay Company is over 300 years
old. An indoor walkway allows you to
walk from The Bay to Portage and Main
without having to battle the elements. The
tour headed west on Portage turning right
on Furby Street. At the corner of Furby
and Ellice Avenue is the mural put up by
the “West End Biz” thanking Icelanders
for their productive and outstanding con-
tribution to the community. The plaque on
the left side of the mural offers more infor-
mation.
We continued north to Sargent
Avenue, also known as "Goolie Street."
We turned left on Sargent Avenue and
entered the area of the city known as The
Icelandic District of Winnipeg. The district
between Furby Street and Dominion Street
was also known as "Goolie Crescent."
Icelandic was the language of Sargent
Avenue along with English. "Goolie Hall"
at 635 Sargent was the home of The
Independent Order of Good Templars
(I.O.G.T.). Two of the fraternal lodges in
the Goolie Hall were Skuld and Hekla. The
first Icelandic National League meeting
was held in this hall in 1919.
Next was the First Lutheran church at
580 Victor at Sargent. In the early years,
this church was the meeting place for many
Icelanders. The church has continued to be
home to many through the years. The tour
traveled Victor Street and turned on Ellice
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Avenue followed by right hand turn on to
Toronto Street. At Sargent, we turned left
and drove up to number 692, which is the
former home of the Wevel Cafe, where car-
toonist Charlie Thorson sketched his first
drawings of Snow White.
The corner of Sargent and Banning is
the former site of the Unitarian Church.
The Safeway at Sargent and Lipton sold a
variety of Icelandic foods until the mid
1960s. Our tour proceeded down Sargent
to Erin Street to BetelstaSur, a Senior’s
apartment, which was built by a group of
Icelanders and still is home to many
Icelandic people. Our next site was the
Scandinavian Centre at 764 Erin Street,
home to descendants of the five
Scandinavian countries. The Icelanders are
an integral part of its operation. Next, we
drove south to Portage Avenue and turned
on Dominion Street. We proceeded
through the "Granola Belt," or
"Birkenstock Way," to Wolseley Avenue.
We followed Wolseley to Maryland and
turned right over the Maryland Bridge to
Wellington Crescent and traveled to
Number 1015, the old Eaton Estate. The
tour then took the Pembina Highway to
the University of Manitoba, home of the
Icelandic Collection at the Elizabeth Dafoe
Library.
Here are additional points of Icelandic
heritage that could be included in an
Icelandic Winnipeg Tour:
The Jon Sigurdson Monument on the
grounds of the Manitoba Legislative
Building.
Jon Bjarnason Academy located at 652
Home Street, was the first and only
Icelandic high school in North America.
The Olafson House at 539 William
Avenue features interesting architecture.
The University of Winnipeg at 515
Portage Avenue offered classes in Icelandic
years ago.
The birthplace of The Icelandic
Canadian Magazine was the home of
Hjalmar and Freda Danielson, at 896
Garfield Ave.
We hope that this gives you a glimpse
of some of our Icelandic history and points
of interest.