West Kildonan is a

residential suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

within the

Old Kildonan Old Kildonan is the northernmost city ward of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Before the '' City of Winnipeg Act'' of 1972, it was an independent unincorporated municipality called the Municipality of Old Kildonan; prior to that, from 1914, it was a subdivi ...

and Mynarski city wards of

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 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 ...

, lying on the west side of the Red River, and immediately north of the old City of Winnipeg in the north-central part of the city. It is bounded by the Red River on the east; the north limit of Kildonan Golf Course, Main Street, Seaforth Avenue, the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

Winnipeg Beach Subdivision, and Templeton Avenue on the north;

McPhillips Street Route 180 (locally known as McPhillips Street) is a major arterial road and city route in northwestern Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It runs from Route 57 (Notre Dame Avenue) to Emes Avenue (Winnipeg city limits) near the Perimeter Highway, wher ...

on the west; and Carruthers Avenue, McGregor Street, and the lane between McAdam and Smithfield Avenues on the south. It is notably home to

Kildonan Park Kildonan Park is a park in the West Kildonan area of northern Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Established in 1909 as a park, it features the Peguis Pavilion, Rainbow Stage, the Witch's Hut, an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, duck pond, and ...

West Kildonan Collegiate West Kildonan Collegiate (WKC) is a high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is part of the Seven Oaks School Division, and houses about 850 students. The school decided in June 2007 to change the school's name from "West Kildonan Collegiate Institu ...

, and the former West Kildonan North Stars.

History

The

Battle of Seven Oaks The Battle of Seven Oaks was a violent confrontation in the Pemmican War between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC), rivals in the fur trade, that took place on 19 June 1816, the climax of a long dispute in western ...

was fought in what is now West Kildonan in 1816. The area was part of the original Municipality of Kildonan, which was established in 1876. Kildonan was divided in eastern and western halves in 1914 and the more heavily developed areas of West Kildonan separated from areas which remained primarily rural (Old Kildonan) to assume the current boundaries in 1921. West Kildonan is one of Winnipeg's earliest residential suburbs. The areas east of the CPR Winnipeg Beach tracks and south of Hartford Avenue were substantially developed by the 1910s and 1920s. West of the tracks, the Garden City neighbourhood was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, as was the area north of Hartford Avenue east of the tracks. The Garden Park community located north of Leila Avenue and west of the CPR tracks was developed beginning in the late 1950s. The R.M.'s municipal hall was located at 1760 Main St. In January 1961 the Rural Municipality of West Kildonan asked the Province to designate it as a City. At the time the R.M. had a total tax assessment of C$15 million with a population of 19,000 citizens. Final approval by the Manitoba Legislature was given in April 1961 for the R.M. of West Kildonan and the Town of Transcona to formally become cities via minor amendments to their respective municipal and provincial Acts. The first council meeting operating as the City of West Kildonan took place on April 25, 1961. Prior to 1972, it was the independent ''City of West Kildonan''. Today, it is a popular suburb of the City of Winnipeg.

Demographics

Early on, West Kildonan attracted many people from Winnipeg's

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

North End who became more affluent beginning after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, but who wished to remain close to their roots. To this day, the area has a large Eastern European population. This area, along with nearby Garden City are home to large portions of Winnipeg's Jewish population. Historically, the West Kildonan and Garden City areas have been two of Canada's largest Jewish neighbourhoods.

Synagogues A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wors ...

, Hebrew educational programming, Kosher supermarkets and Jewish cemeteries are common throughout the area. In recent years condominiums catering to the Jewish community have become increasingly popular.

References

{{WinnipegNeighbourhoods Kildonan, Winnipeg Seven Oaks, Winnipeg Former municipalities now in Winnipeg Jewish Canadian history Jewish communities in Canada Jews and Judaism in Winnipeg Neighbourhoods in Winnipeg Populated places disestablished in 1972

History

Demographics

See also

References