Winnipeg in Focus is a database for archival descriptions and digital collections at the City of Winnipeg Archives.

Series s00174 - Subject Files

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Subject Files

General material designation

  • Multiple media

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Series

Reference code

s00174

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

Physical description area

Physical description

6.46 m of textual records
Drawings
Blueprints
Cartographic material
14 photographic prints
10 negatives

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1880-1971)

Administrative history

The Rural Municipality and City of St. Vital dates to 1880 when the RM of St. Boniface was incorporated. After the Town of St. Boniface was formed in 1883, the RM of St. Boniface continued to operate as its own government and in 1903 changed its name to St. Vital to avoid confusion. The name likely derives from one of the earliest schools in the area built by Bishop Taché and named after his coadjutor Bishop Vital Grandin. The municipality experienced a series of boundary changes beginning in 1891 when it was reduced to the east and extended in the west and south. Further alterations were made in 1912 when the community on the west side of the Red River separated to form the RM of Fort Garry, and then in 1914, when a large tract of land was annexed to the City of St. Boniface and land annexed from the RM of Ritchot. It was bounded on the west and east by the Red and Seine Rivers, Carriere Avenue on the north and Grande Pointe on the south. It included parts of the Parishes of St. Boniface, St. Vital, and St. Norbert. In 1960, St. Vital became part of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg. With the passing of An Act to provide a Charter for the City of St. Vital, it achieved city status on June 9, 1962.

Councils consisted of a Reeve or Mayor and, in most instances, six councillors. The municipality derived authority from provincial legislation and was subject to the provisions of The Municipal Act, The Metropolitan Winnipeg Act and The Greater Winnipeg Gas Distribution Act. It briefly lost its mandate to govern between 1925 and 1927 when the Winnipeg Suburban Municipal Board stepped in due to financial difficulties. Standing committees and delegations changed from year to year in response to municipal growth. Council members notably participated in the St. Vital Advisory Planning Commission, St. Vital Library Board, and St. Vital Parks Board. Departments within the municipality included Administration, Public Works, Police and Fire. In 1952, Police and Fire went from being one department into two. Shortly after St. Vital became a city in 1962, the position of Secretary-Treasurer was split into City Clerk and City Treasurer.

The City of St. Vital ceased to exist in 1972, when Chapter 105 of the Statutes of Manitoba came into force unifying twelve area municipalities and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg into one city government. Following amalgamation, the Community of St. Vital was created as part of the new municipal structure.

Custodial history

Scope and content

Forms part of Fonds 10. Series consists primarily of both incoming and outgoing correspondence created and maintained by the Rural Municipality and City of St. Vital. Files document communications and transactions between St. Vital and various parties (ie: residents, businesses, local clubs and associations, and other governments) as well as municipal administration and council business. Reports, agreements, briefs, petitions, town and building plans, and copies of minutes also appear in this series.

Series appears to have served as the central filing system for St. Vital. Most files created on the basis of subject or office of primary importance and arranged in alphabetical order. Large file groupings assembled on the Elm Park Bridge, Offers to Purchase, Province of Manitoba, Flood, Schools and Tenders as well as other records with a similar provenance were put back into this series. General correspondence with residents often filed by letter according to name of sender or recipient.

Recordkeeping appears haphazard with most files dating from the fifties and sixties and others going back to the twenties, possibly indicating previous appraisal(s). Files created after the City’s amalgamation in 1972 removed.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

Access to files containing personal or sensitive information is restricted.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Researchers are responsible for observing Canadian copyright regulations.

Finding aids

A file list is available in the Archives Research Room.

Generated finding aid

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

No further accruals are expected.

Alternative identifier(s)

Legacy Identifier

F0010-0108

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COWA

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