Local Heritage: Publications and Reports
Self-Guided Walking Tour of Birtle
Take a relaxing stroll through the Town of Birtle and you will discover some finely crafted buildings and historic sites that tell the story of our past.
For a copy of the tour, click this link.
Pivotal Events Publication
Pivotal Events: Birtle’s Significant Historical Themes and Events was funded by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program and completed in January of 2018.
In seventeen categories and a timeline updated through 2017, it attempts to trace some of the broader themes which have coursed through Birtle’s history and isolate certain moments which were pivotal to the shaping of them.
More another starting point than a definitive history, extensive endnotes have been included to allow a more exact questioning of the facts, arguments, and interpretations therein, all shaped by the author’s previous experience as a summer student at the Birdtail Country Museum.
Cover and Main Content (pdf 4.5 MB)
Appendices (pdf 620 KB)
Bibliography and Endnotes (pdf 420 KB)
New Book: Birtle Begins
Copies of the book are available at the Municipal Office or Pharmacy in Birtle for a cost of $36. Cheques can be made payable to Birtle Begins History Project. There is also a copy of the book for loan at the library.
The publication of Birtle Begins is the culmination of a 3-year project funded by the Manitoba Heritage Grants Program and was worked on by a small committee of individuals interested in Birtle’s early history. The first part of the project involved compiling an inventory of people who came to Birtle and area during the years 1879–1920.
Birtle Begins highlights some of those hearty, enterprising men and women who made a significant contribution to the town’s early growth or were representative of early pioneers who came to the area. It includes some well-known settlers such as Alfred and Adelaide Morton and Mayor Crawford but also some, perhaps lesser-known, individuals who made their mark on the Birtle community.
We hope you find reading the book as interesting as we did when we uncovered the fascinating, personal histories that make up Birtle Begins.
A View of the Birdtail
A history of the municipality of Birtle from 1878 to 1974, available online at the University of Manitoba.
Passing It On
A history of the RM and Town of Birtle from 1884 to 2009, also available online at the University of Manitoba.
Birtle’s Beginning
E.J. Wilson, one of Birtle’s first pioneers, established the Eye-Witness newspaper in 1891 which he continued to run for the next 52 years. In 1934, he decided to write an account of the early years of the Birdtail Settlement and published this account in a series of installments in the Eye-Witness.
Several years later, his son, Arthur Wilson, published a compilation of these sketches in pamphlet form. It is available online at the University of Manitoba digital collections library.
More information on E.J. Wilson can be found in A View of the Birdtail and Birtle Begins.
An Index of Research Materials of the Birdtail Country Museum 2015
A handy index of various resources useful for genealogical and other local history projects, which are at the immediate disposal of the Birdtail Country Museum.
Index of Research Materials (pdf 550 KB)
Birtle’s Special Places Project
Over the course of its Special Places project, undertaken in 2008 through 2010, the Birtle Heritage Advisory Group, with assistance from Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage, developed observations, conclusions and recommendations for Birtle’s architectural heritage.
Report cover (pdf 246 KB)
Introduction (pdf 78 KB)
Heritage Overview (pdf 3.4 MB)
Significant Heritage Sites (pdf 1.8 MB)