Vintage Views of Birtle
The Birdtail Country Museum is fortunate to have a collection of glass negatives and photos of early Birtle.
Lawrence Collection
Nearly all the pictures after 1903 were by Mr. Arthur Lawrence, who lived in Birtle and took thousands of pictures of Birtle and the surrounding area.
- Lawrence photo collection
- Lawrence biography
- Lawrence memoirs
Flower Collection
Charles Flower also took many pictures of the Birtle area. We are grateful to his descendants for donating his photo album to the Birdtail Country Museum.
Many other images have been added to the collection. Please let us know if you have any more information on any of these.
Birtle Before 1900
The first building in Birtle, built in 1879 by John and Tom Patterson. Mrs. Ross Carpenter is by the fence.
See more images of Birtle Before 1900
Main Street Over the Decades
This image highlights the H. A. Manwaring block, which is still used. The date would be between between 1893 (building of stone Beirnes building) and 1907 (completion of the Union Bank building)
A view of the north side of main street, probably between 1897 and 1909. Note the wooden sidewalks.
Birtle Main Street 1925
Valley Views
Valley Drive, Cleghorn’s HIll, looking southeast
Vale of Birtle, taken from “Birtleside” top of Cleghorn’s Hill, looking southwest
Birtle in distance, Cleghorn’s HIll, 1963
Dwellings
Patterson/Hoffman House, built northwest of the elevator by John Patterson, burned down in the 1990s
Cartmel House, built in 1904, photo taken in the 1960s
John Sheperd House, built in 1894
Pratt Block, now Sims and Company
Other historical views of Birtle can be found at:
– the Bruce Peel Special Collections Library at the University of Alberta