Varennes, Winnipeg

Coordinates: 49°51′18″N 97°06′43″W / 49.855°N 97.112°W Varennes is a neighbourhood in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is a small triangular neighbourhood located in the northern section of the district of St. Vital, and is bounded by St. Mary's Road on the west, Fermor Avenue on the south, and St. Anne's Road (the Trans-Canada Highway) on the east. At the 2001 census, Varennes had a population of 1,080.[1]

The neighbourhood was named for Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, an early French explorer in the district.

History


A two-storey brown brick church with a modern bell tower.
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Varennes.

The area now known as Varennes was the northern terminus of the original Crow Wing Trail, a Red River Trail that ran down the east side of the Red River to Emerson, Manitoba. St. Vital's first livery stable was founded in the area of the intersection of St. Anne's Road and St. Mary's Road (St. Anne's Junction) by Abraham Guay, a local landowner.[2]

Amenities

Varennes is the home of Ecole Varennes (a French immersion primary school administered by the Louis Riel School Division) as well as two churches (St. Mary's Road United Church and St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church). Until the spring of 2009, Global Television's Winnipeg studios were located in Varennes. There is significant light commercial development along both St. Mary's Road and St. Anne's Road.[3] It is in the federal riding of Saint Boniface and the provincial riding of St. Vital.

References

  1. ↑ "VARENNES". 2001 CENSUS DATA. City of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, web site. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
  2. ↑ "Origin of the Trail/Origin des Routes Primitives". Placard placed at St. Anne's Junction by the Manitoba Historic Resource Branch, Government of Manitoba, with information from the St. Vital Historical Society.
  3. ↑ Sherlock's Map of Winnipeg and Surrounding Areas., Map 25, ISBN 978-1-895229-67-7