Brookside Cemetery, resting place of 'who's who of Winnipeg society,' now a national historic site

Winnipeg's Brookside Cemetery has been around for 145 years and holds one of the largest and most important military interment sites in Canada, but now it can boast about something brand new.

The federal government announced Thursday that the cemetery has been designated a national historic site for its significance to Canada. Last year, it was named a municipally designated heritage site by the City of Winnipeg.

The latest distinction will shine a wider spotlight on what is already a venerated space for Winnipeggers and "a treasure trove of historical information," said Gordon Goldsborough, past president and head researcher of the Manitoba Historical Society.

He expects the national distinction to boost visits, since there are people who seek out nationally designated sites when they travel.

"Some people think that it's kind of creepy to visit a cemetery, but anyone who's interested in history should find lots of information," Goldsborough said. "It is sort of a who's who of Winnipeg society through the years."

Located along Omand's Creek just west of Red River College Polytechnic's Notre Dame campus, Brookside has more than 100,000 graves, including more than 10,000 veterans and service members interred in the Field of Honour.

The "teardrop" section of the field is the only section in a Canadian cemetery where so many war dead can be found together, the City of Winnipeg states on its website.

"It's a significant place in our community where we can remember and honour the dedication and the service of those who have served our country and defended the values that we cherish — freedom and democracy," Mayor Scott Gillingham told CBC.

As a Pentecostal pastor for 22 years before joining city council, he performed many graveside interments at Brookside.

"It's a very, very important place for so many family members in our community."

Some of the prominent people buried there include:

• Sgt. Tommy Prince, one of Canada's most decorated Indigenous war veterans.
• Francis E. Cornish, the first mayor of Winnipeg.
• Lt. Harry Colebourn, whose black bear inspired the Winnie the Pooh stories.
• R. B. Russell, a leader of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

There is also a section dedicated for people who donated their bodies to medical research and teaching at the University of Manitoba, and those who lost their lives in the 1947 Dugald train disaster, including 23 firefighters.

'A perpetual record of yesteryear'

Brookside "reflects the history of the people of Winnipeg," the city said in a news release.

"It is the final resting place of decorated war heroes, politicians, athletes, and people from all walks of life," the city's statement said, and "a perpetual record of yesteryear and a sanctuary of peace and quiet."

A lesser-known fact about the cemetery is that it once housed a quarantine hospital, said Goldsborough.

"I didn't know about it until one of our researchers turned it up," he said.

"The idea was that when there were people that suffered some sort of communicable disease, they would put them there because it was of course, at that time, out on the outskirts of the city."

There was also a winter vault where bodies were stored during the months when it was impossible to hand-dig graves in the frozen ground.

"It's been taken down — I guess because there's technology that enables the burials at any time of the year," Goldsborough said. "It speaks to so many things about Winnipeg history."

Dates back to 1877

Brookside was first laid out between 1877 and 1883 by English-born surveyor and architect Thomas H. Parr, according to the federal government's Thursday announcement.

Between 1899 and 1904, Winnipeg's new Public Parks Board altered and enlarged his design, beginning a transformation from open prairie landscape. Thousands of trees were planted, with a pond and bridge added.

Brookside now offers a park-like setting, with mature trees and abundant wildlife on its roughly 80 hectares (203 acres), the city's website states.

The federal government's announcement also cites Brookside's "many beautiful built features including winding roads [and] irregularly shaped islets."

"My wife and I spent quite a lot of time walking around in the cemetery during the pandemic because it's just such a beautiful scenic location both in winter and in summer," said Goldsborough.

The city pursued the historic designation through a nomination process that was reviewed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

Brookside joins more than 20 other national historic sites in Winnipeg. Others include the Exchange District and The Forks.