Learn more about our neighbourhood’s vibrant past with a self-guided tour!
Hear about the general strike, turn of the century architecture, and culture and class in Winnipeg’s early days in our audio walking tours. Four short, distinct tours cover the characters, buildings and stories of the Exchange District, focusing on Winnipeg’s boom period from the 1880s to the 1920s.
The tours can be enjoyed separately or as a loop (displayed in the map below) starting with “A City’s Beginnings” which kicks off at City Hall, 510 Main Street.
North West: A City’s Beginnings
Duration: 10 minutes
Walking Distance: 0.4 km
This tour starts at City Hall, 510 Main Street and ends in Old Market Square. Learn about the incorporation of the City of Winnipeg in the late 1800s, the eccentric characters that ran the city, and visit spots key to the development of our then small but growing city.
South West: Early Winnipeg Lifestyles
Duration: 10 minutes
Walking Distance: 0.25km
This tour starts at 100 Arthur Street and makes a small circle. Learn about the favoured hangouts for Winnipeg’s elite in the early 20th century, and the class disparities that shaped the city in its early years.
South East: Art & Architecture
Duration: 10 minutes
Walking Distance: 0.7 km
The Exchange District is 20 blocks of National Historic site and most of the buildings are over 130 years old, built between the 1880s and 1920s. Learn about the architecture and arts communities in the area, from big banks and early skyscrapers to modern developments.
North East: Winnipeg General Strike of 1919
Duration: 10 minutes
Walking Distance: 0.6 km
The Winnipeg general strike was one of the most influential labour actions in Canadian history and many of the events of the strike happened in the Exchange District. Walk the path of strikers who helped pave the way for modern labour laws in Canada.