257 Lulu Street - Haynes' Chicken Shack

© 2017, 2020, 2025, Christian Cassidy. Please respect my research.

Place: Private residence / former Haynes' Chicken Shack

Address: 257 Lulu Street (Map)

Constructed: 1903
Status: Vacant

According to city records, the main section of this house was constructed in 1903. Its first resident, Harry Poole, was a machinist at the nearby CPR shops. One of his sons, Harry Jr., lived at 355 Lulu and was a wood machinist for the CPR.

In the 1904 Henderson's Street Directory, the data for which would have been compiled in 1903, more than half of the 15 households on Lulu Street were headed by someone who worked for the CPR. Another three are "labourers" with no place of work listed, but could have worked for the railroad as well.

1906 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

In 1904, Wilfred Turland, a labourer for the CPR, lived here, and then the house was vacant in 1905. Daniel MacDonald, a machinist for the CPR, and his family, lived here in 1906.

As can be seen in the above census record, Daniel and his wife, Fannie, came to Canada from England in 1886. By this time, they had three Manitoba-born children ranging in age from eight to fourteen years old. Also living with them is Daniel’s brother-in-law, William Ford (25), who came from England in 1903.

The Macdonalds lived at the house until 1908, and it is listed as vacant in 1909.

April 26, 1911, Winnipeg Tribune

The following year, William Kennedy and family moved in. He was a teamster with Saskatchewan-based Western Dominion Collieries Ltd., formerly known as the Souris Coal Mining Company, that mined and shipped coal.

Less than a year later, Kennedy put the household furniture and some tools up for auction. It's not clear why, though the company had several mining interests and he may have been transferred to another city or province.

1911 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

By the time of the 1911 census, it was home to George Skinner, his wife, and their three children who came from England in 1910.

Mr. Skinner was a teamster with the Winnipeg Supply Co., likely delivering coal or lumber. Having two teamsters in a row suggests that the property may have been large enough to have a stable and/or barn to house a rig.

1916 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

The house changed hands again when the Lee family moved here in 1913. Joseph James Lee, who went by James, his wife Eliza, and grown children William 27, Eliza 25, and Lillian 13.

The family came from England, but looking at the 1916 census entry, it appears that William came first in 1908, at around age 22, followed by Eliza in 1911. The rest of the family followed in 1912. The move may have been to benefit the children, as Mr. and Mrs. Lee were 60 and 59 respectively when they came.

Other Lee children may have also come earlier, but it is such a common last name that unless they lived at 257 Lulu and were captured by the 1916 census, or appear in the street directories at this address, it is impossible to track them. Some Lee children may have also stayed behind in England.

In their first year at the house, James Lee was a night watchman at Winnipeg Laundry,  967 Sherbrook Street near Logan, and they had a roomer named Mrs. Pratt, a waitress at Brathwaite's Drug Store, 288 Main Street. 

Some of the children pop up every once n a while in the street directories. Eliza the younger worked for a time at Eaton's and William was a chauffeur, presumably a delivery driver, for Winnipeg Supply Co., than at City Coal. Lillian was a stenographer at HBC.

March 14, 1938, Winnipeg Tribune

James Lee died in 1920 and the following year, Mrs. Lee and children William, Eliza and Lillian moved to the house next door at 255 Lulu Street.

Mrs. Lee was active at All Saints Church and a member of the Mothers Union for 55 years. She lived there until her death in 1940 at the age of 87.

1921 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

The next owners of the house were the Haynes family.

William Haynes, a carpenter from British Guiana (known as Guyana since 1966), came to Winnipeg in 1910. The following year, he sent for the rest of his family: wife Frederica, and children Abram, Clarice, and infant son Piercy. (The legal spelling of his name was Piercy, but he used Percy.)

The Haynes' first lived at 936 Alexander (now demolished) where they had two more children, Stella and Clifford. They moved to 257 Lulu Street in 1921 wher ethy had Ruth. 

It's likely that William used the extra space on the property to add a carpentry workshop.

December 15 1943, Winnipeg Tribune

Percy Haynes began making a name for himself as a sportsman and musician in the city through the 1930s. He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, the first black man to do so, and returned to the family home in 1946 with new wife Zena in tow, though the two had been a piano - singer duo on the local club scene for several years. He then began a career as a sleeping car porter. (You can read more about him here.)

The house became a space for entertaining. When Percy and Zena were at home, they hosted musical jam sessions that went late into the night and involved large spreads of food. that's what gave Zena the idea that they should open a restaurant.

Top: November 7, 1952, Winnipeg Free Press

An application was made in October 1947 to change the zoning on the property to allow for a restaurant to be added to the house. It's unclear what happened to the application, as a restaurant did not open until 1952.

Haynes' Chicken Shack became famous for its chicken and ribs thanks to Alva Mayes, Zena's sister, who was a well-known cook.

January 10, 1976, Winnipeg Tribune

It also became a musical hot-spot thanks to Percy, Zena and others who would drop by to perform. Even entertainment greats like Billy Daniels, Oscar Peterson and Harry Belafonte, visited after performing in town. 

Zena Haynes died in 1990 and Percy died in 1992. He worked at the restaurant until a week before his death. Two long-time employees then bought the restaurant, which closed in 1998.

Google Maps

The current structure is a mish-mash of additions, with the original house, where the first iteration of the restaurant opened in 1952, in the middle.

A new double garage structure at the back of the lot replaced an existing garage in the mid-1950s. Additions were made to the front and north side of the house in the late 1950s and mid-1960s. In the mid-1970s, the restaurant had taken over the whole house and one of the garages in back was converted into living quarters.

When being auctioned in 2025 (see below), the ad stated that the lot is 9,540 square feet and there are considered to be two buildings on the property. One, likely the garage space at the back, is 1,628 square feet, and the house portion is 1,215 square feet.

In August 2022

The house continued to be a residence into the early 2000s. The front windows were boarded up around 2011, but the garage portion may still have been used for storage for few more years.

In July 2020, the property was advertised for sale with the caveat that the "building on site needs to be torn down". It's unclear if that was a city order or just the opinion of the owner. It is also unclear if the property sold.

The June 2024 Google Street View of the house shows a for sale sign out front, and in July 2025, a legal notice in Winnipeg Free Press stated that the property was to be sold at auction with more than $18,000 in unpaid property taxes owing.

My writings about Haynes and 257 Lulu Street:

Percy Haynes West End Dumplings
257 Lulu Street Winnipeg Downtown Places
Recipe for Success Winnipeg Free Press
Farewell to 257 Lulu Street West End Dumplings

For more of my posts and columns celebrating Manitoba's Black history!