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The Quarry Village in Manitoba

According to the records of the City of Winnipeg Engineering Department— the 80 acres of property situated in Rosser, for the Little Stony Mountain Quarry was purchase in 1896 from Lord Strathcona, under the direction of Colonel H. N. Ruttan, the city engineer at that time. It produced crushed stone which was delivered to improvement [...]

The Dowler’s General Store

Dowler’s store was built around 1912 to establish a Massey Harris Agency. The front 24 feet were heated as a parts and display room; while the rear, with just mud floors, was used as a machine shed. Mr. McMahon and E.E. Dowler set up a partnership and added a lumber yard and general store. The [...]

Oil Exploration in the Lilyfield District

“In the very early 1920’s the late James Speers of Winnipeg headed a group of business men in financing the search for oil in the Lilyfield community. As a result of their enthusiasm and a conviction that oil could be discovered, an oil drilling rig was erected being the property owned by the late Mr. [...]

Gross Isle Oil Business

The local store carried drums of kerosene and gasoline. These were shipped out by train and settlers bought small amounts prior to 1920. In the early 1920’s tractors were becoming more common so A.J. Lobb built a shed near the elevator large enough to hold one and one-half carloads of drums. Gasoline, kerosene and distillate [...]

Gross Isle Blacksmith Shop

When A.J. Lobb purchased the general store and post office from the Charles brothers, he expanded the business by adding a blacksmith shop and a small home adjacent to the store.
William McCrimmon, the first blacksmith, was kept busy shoeing horses and doing farm repairs.
A new store was built in 1917 across from the railway station [...]

Third generation of Lawrence in Rosser, Manitoba

Evered, the eldest son of pioneer parents Emily and Lyle Lawrence, was born on the family farm in the RM of Rosser. He has lived and farmed in Rosser all his life.
Evered had his primary schooling at Lilyfield and secondary at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg. He had to walk two and half miles to [...]

Lyle Lawrence: History and Contributions at Rosser

Lyle Lawrence in one of the sons of Reverend James Lawrence who have made huge notable contributions in Rosser. Like his father, Lyle had his own way to get into Rosser’s history.
Lyle and Emily Lawrence are known pioneers in Rosser, Manitoba. Although, Lyle was originally from Scotland, his family traveled across South Africa and settled [...]

Reverend Lawrence’s left Legacy in Manitoba

According to the Manitoba Provincial Archives ‘Historic Holders Land Index’, which lists the first owners of all the land in the Province, Thomas Slater and John Mann Bought the NE and NW quarters of 21-11-2E in July 1872 and Peter Kirton bought SE 21-11-2E in July 1877. Copies of the Abstract covering 21-11-2E.
Mr. Lawrence’s eldest [...]

The Earliest Rosser Village Settlers

Donald and Elizabeth (Williams)

Donald was born in 1934 and received his education at Rosser Village School and United College in Winnipeg. He enjoyed all sports, was a member of the Rosser United Church, taught Sunday school and belonged to the Young People’s Group which he represented at Tuxis Boy’s Parliament. After he moved to Winnipeg, [...]

The Canadian Pacific Rail Water Tank at Rosser

For a long time the water tank in the CPR property was a famous landmark in Rosser, Manitoba. It was unintentionally destroyed due to a train wreck in 1975.
During those years, machines including trains are ran on steam from coal fire and water. [...]