766 Ingersoll Street - Private Residence

 © 2024, Christian Cassidy

Google Street View, 2021

Place: Private Residence
Address: 766 Ingersoll Street (Map)
Built: ca. 1894
Size: 1,294 square feet

I was asked to research the history of this house, which is currently for sale. Its date of construction predates the creation of Ingersoll Street which means there is some guesswork involved!

According to city records, the building permit was issued for this house in 1894. This is quite early for the West End as the city did not send in surveyors to lay out the grid pattern for roads, sidewalks, and boulevards until around 1904. By the time crews would have reached this far west it was likely closer to 1910. 

This house, therefore, would have been a rural farmhouse serving one of the pastureland sections of land north of Portage Avenue that may have contained a commercial horse stable or a dairy farm operation. The house would have been moved from its original location to align with what would become Ingersoll Street after the surveyors came through.

R. McPhillips' 1910 Map of Winnipeg (Source)

Ingersoll Street isn’t listed in Winnipeg's street directories through the 1890s. It first appears around 1904 but only as a cluster of houses and businesses at Notre Dame Avenue. Interestingly, even in 1910 it still wasn’t fully formed as can be seen in R. McPhillips’ 1910 map of Winnipeg above. 

Even after this house was moved to align with Ingersoll Street, it likely still had a lot of land associated with it. I have indicated this land with a red star on the map.

The land north of the house (towards Notre Dame) was sold to builders as houses on those lots were built in 1912 to 1914, which is common for streets in this area. The three lots south of this house to Ellice Avenue, however, were not built on until 1930 and the first few houses south of Ellice were not built on until 1929 or later.

It is likely that this land remained part of 766 Ingersoll and was sold off as individual lots over time. (The house still has an unusually large side yard to this day.)

July 5, 1945, Winnipeg Tribune

The 766 Ingersoll Street address first appears in the 1911 street directory. The first listed owner was Hayden Hawes, one of the sons in the Charles H. Hawes and Sons painting and decorating business located at 620 Langside Street.

The Hawes' had two children. Hugh died at the home in 1940 at the age of 26. Ruth signed on to be a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) worker during World War II. She served at hospitals in Winnipeg before being deployed to England in 1945.