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The Old Days

In the early 1900's, ritzy hotels lined the main street of Winnipeg Beach. Piers, parks and picnic grounds were constructed to accommodate the weekend masses that would travel to Winnipeg Beach from the nearby capital city.

By 1913, the summer retreat had become so popular that the C.P.R. had 13 trains running the line between the beach and the City of Winnipeg. The famous Moonlight Special returned to the city at midnight every Saturday for fifty years. The round trip fare was only fifty cents. 

A boardwalk took strollers along the beach to the carnival concessions and cottages.

A wooden roller coaster was one of the largest in the country at the time, and carried hundreds of passengers on a busy day. 

The Pavillion housed a 14,000 square foot dance floor, reputed to be the largest in Western Canada. Couples danced the night away to music by the top bands of the time.

Sadly, in the mid sixties the dance hall was taken down, the roller coaster was dismantled, and Winnipeg Beach lost a piece of it's history.