Town Hall 1911

Until 1910, Winnipeg Beach had been part of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews. As Ward 6, it was entitled to one councilor to represent its interests. Being primarily a rural municipality, St. Andrews gave little attention to the needs of the rapidly growing little resort, so in 1909, Winnipeg Beach residents had the Village of Winnipeg Beach incorporated. W.J. Howes was elected as the first mayor; A.C. Duke, Helgi Sturlaugson, and J.O. Stacey were elected as councilors. The first meetings of the new council occurred on January 4, 1910, in the store of A.C. Duke. For years, there was political conflict and rivalry between the local residents and the summer resident cottagers. For the first election, the Winnipeg Beach Club, prominent Winnipeg businessmen, put forward a slate of cottager candidates and mistakenly assumed it would control the council. Due to the continued growth of the community, it achieved town status in 1914.

Source: Heritage Manitoba

Researcher: Wally Johannson