The CPR Pier and Bathhouse
Almost directly east of the Pavilion lay the wooden promenade to the CPR Pier which was built in 1907. The pier ran 500 feet into the lake with a perpendicular section at the end. The CPR provided electric lighting that same year. The pier became a favourite promenade for young ladies in all their finery, and young men clothed in flannel trousers and boaters. Steamers docked in the sheltered area inside the end of the dock. Between 1913 and 1945, water levels on Lake Winnipeg were one to three feet below normal. The beach was immense compared to the present narrow beach and was ideal for sunbathing and picnicking. Photos from the period show bathers out almost to the end of the pier standing in water only up to their knees. The result was that families tended to congregate around the pier. Concessions at the entry to the pier developed additional revenue.
As part of its early development of the resort, the CPR built Ladies and Gents Bath or Change Houses in 1903, and Ladies and Gents Toilets. That season of improvements brought the development of athletic fields, “artificial amusements” and beach bathing. The change houses later, after public complaints, rented bathing suits and towels by the hour or day, and provided checking facilities for clothing. Gentlemen’s bathing suits and towels were rented for 15 cents per hour, ladies’ for 25 cents, and children’s for 10 and 15 cents. The early ones were wool and hung heavily when wet. There were replaced with more stylish suits in the 1940s. The side view of the bathhouse is shown above, and the front view on the postcard below. Here are also two examples of suits rented at the Winnipeg Beach Bath house. The “W.B.A” on the rental suits stand for Winnipeg Beach Attractions.
The message on the postcard above said: Aug 31/1930, Dear Jeanie - Spending the last few days of my holidays here and having a wonderful time. The weather is very favorable and just ideal for getting the fashionable "sun-tan", Love Jessie
