Henderson House, oldest surviving building from North Kildonan, by Jim Smith.

Henderson House, 1978.

Henderson House at, St. Norbert Heritage Park, 2011.

Henderson House being moved to St. Norbert on September 11, 1979.

Henderson House enroute, 1979.

Henderson House, 2011.

North Kildonan is one of the oldest settled areas in Winnipeg as it was first settled in the 1820’s, only the West and Old Kildonan areas of Winnipeg were settled before the East and North Kildonan areas.  St. Boniface was settled on a permanent basis only a few years earlier with St. Vital being first settled around the same time in the early 1820’s.

The oldest surviving building from North Kildonan’s early history was built in 1854, or 1856, depending on the source, but contrary to what you might think you will not find it in North Kildonan.  The sad story is that this house originally, at what is now 2112 Henderson Highway, is now in St. Norbert where it has been since 1979 in the St. Norbert heritage Park off Turnbull Drive.

Henderson House at 2112 Henderson Highway was the home of a number of generations of Henderson’s, the family that Henderson Highway, John Henderson junior High, the Henderson Library and Essar Avenue are named after the Henderson’s.  Essar is named after Samuel Robert Henderson, who among his contributions was a reeve, councillor and school trustee for the Municipality of Kildonan and the Municipality of East Kildonan, which then included North kildonan before the division in 1925.  He was the secretary for many years of the Kildonan St. Paul Agricultural Society and president of the Good Roads Association until his death in 1928.  East Kildonan Road was renamed Henderson Highway in his honour after his death.

john Henderson was the reeve of the Municipality of Kildonan in the first decade of the 20th century before the Municipality of kildonan was divided into East Kildonan and West Kildonan in 1914; with Old Kildonan splitting off from West Kildonan in 1921 and North Kildonan splitting off from East Kildonan in 1925.  John Henderson also served as a councillor on the Kildonan Council for many years as well as on the East Kildonan School District Board.

One would think that Henderson House would enjoy a prominent place in our community because of its age and the prominent family that lived there for many generations, but this is not the case.  In around 1977-1978 the last private owner of the house at 2112 Henderson Highway decided to build a more modern and larger house on this property.  He offered to sell it to the City of Winnipeg.  The city and the local community committee dithered on making a decision whether to restore the house and make it into a museum for the area.  The more recent outside cladding was removed, but there it sat for a year.  In 1978, the owner of the property demanded that the house be moved, or he would completely tear it down.

The city then decided it would be moved just down the street to the site of another historical house at 1940 Henderson Highway.  Harold Piercy, the City Councillor for the area and the president of S.P.I.K.E. House, a home for mentally challenged residents, which was then being started at 1940 Henderson Highway, a city owned property, decided that he didn`t want a museum on this property so Henderson House remained at 2112 Henderson for a little time longer while the community looked for a new location for the house.

In a very short sighted decision the house was moved from its location at 2112 Henderson Highway to St. Norbert in 1979.  The owner of Henderson Highway received a tax credit from the city and over time the ownership of Henderson Highway was transferred from the city to the provincial government.  The province made some promises that it would restore it to its original condition, but as of yet, the province has done nothing to restore it and it has no plans to restore it, or even anything to conserve it in its present state.  It seems the province is willing to allow it to completely rot away thereby solving the problem by neglect.

If one goes to see it today it is in a terrible state surrounded by a wire fence to prevent access to it with only a small sign saying Henderson House.  Some of the other homes in the park have been restored, but Henderson House unlike all the other buildings is out of place because they have some historical ties to the area while Henderson House is completely distant from its community.

Henderson House should be restored and moved back to our area as it is one of the oldest surviving building in Winnipeg; it is older than Barber House in Point Douglas where millions have been spent on it over the decades.

I believe the only way the house will be restored and moved back to the community is if many residents demand it from our provincial, federal and city politicians.  we all know money is tight, but the various levels of government spend all kinds of money on less worthy projects.  If this house is restored and moved back to our community, it can be made into a museum for our area, ours is the only region in Winnipeg where ther is no museum.  It seems our elected representatives do not think there are enough people who care about our history; we need to prove them wrong.