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| 400 St. Charles Street, c. 1979 |
Unlike the City’s List of Historical Resources [3], the Commemorative designation is little more than a list of historically interesting properties. While “conservation is encouraged,” there are no restrictions on demolition or alterations, and protection is not assured (unfortunate, given the home’s current neglected state).
The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) has also deemed the Laflèche House an historic site in Manitoba. Their entry echoes City of Winnipeg files, noting: “This two-storey brick veneer house at 86 St. Charles Street (later renumbered to 400 St. Charles) in Winnipeg was built in 1915 for farmer Louis Jules LaFlèche (1866-1955), his wife Florestine Caron (1876-1954), and their twelve children. A subsequent owner was realtor David R. Finkelstein (c1941-?).” [4]
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| David R. Finkelstein [5] |
Finkelstein? Not the usual French Canadian or Métis name as was typical in the parish in 1942. Who was he?
David R. Finkelstein was born in Poland (other sources say Russia) on April 14, 1880 to Hiam Finkelstein and Hannah Rosenberg and came to Winnipeg in 1885. He attended Manitoba College following graduation from Winnipeg Collegiate Institute (the city’s first dedicated high school at William Avenue and Kate Street, demolished in 1928). Finkelstein was an avid football and rugby player, and was President of the Civic Curling Club (1909–1910).
The clue to his St. Charles connection can be found in a Manitoba Historical Society profile:
He commenced his real estate career in 1901 and worked as a clerk in the firm of F. W. Heubach and W. J. Christie. He helped in the development of the Tuxedo area of Winnipeg. He later served as Mayor of Tuxedo for 36 years, ending a year before his death. He was an active volunteer on behalf of the Canadian Red Cross, having been an original member of a committee formed during the First World War to raise funds for it. In recognition of his community service, he received the King George V Jubilee Medal (1935). [5]
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| Winnipeg Free Press, November 12, 1901 [6] |
The Christie & Heubach partnership lasted from 1901 to 1906, and was a useful training ground for Finkelstein. He worked with Frederick W. Heubach at the Tuxedo Park Company Limited, which purchased property that was to become the Tuxedo subdivision of Winnipeg.
In 1907 F. W. Heubach became the senior partner in the real estate and financial firm of Heubach, Finkelstein and Heubach (his son Claude Campbell [1886-1955]). The firm controlled and partially owned Norwood and Tuxedo. Developing Tuxedo was a risky proposition. Efforts were complicated by the threat of railway lines intersecting the development, competition from real estate in Crescentwood, and the University of Manitoba’s decision to join the Manitoba Agricultural College in Fort Garry instead of Tuxedo.
By 1910 Heubach and associates formed the South Winnipeg Company and hired noted American landscape architects Olmsted Brothers as planners. The Tuxedo land set aside for the university campus ultimately became the Tuxedo Golf Course, which opened in May 1934. [7]
The Town of Tuxedo was formally incorporated on 24 January 1913 with Heubach as its first mayor, and a council of four persons. In 1915 Finkelstein became the mayor, a post he held until 1951, a year before his death. He was often returned to office by acclamation.
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| Winnipeg Tribune, November 11, 1937 [8] |
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| Winnipeg Free Press, March 21, 1927 [9] |
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| Winnipeg Free Press, April 14, 1927 [10] |
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| Winnipeg Free Press, April 26,1930 [11] |
Winnipeg newspapers of the early 1900s were full of advertisements from real estate and development companies like that of Finkelstein and Heubach. Tuxedo wasn’t the only development being promoted. With unabashed hyperbole agents offered lots in new suburbs they claimed were certain to become the most beautiful and desirable Winnipeg neighbourhoods. Investors were urged to buy now because values were certain to increase.
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| “Ferry Road” likely refers to present-day Rouge Road in Westwood, where a ferry operated at an old buffalo crossing from 1870 to 1908, when it was moved to St. Charles Street due to low water levels. Winnipeg Free Press, July 16, 1904 [12] |
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| We recognize the reporter's attempt to spell Laflèche. Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1910 [13] |
Like other neighbourhoods, the undeveloped Westwood area (east of St. Charles Street and the Glendale Golf and Country Club) was hyped extensively. A 1906 advertisement urged investors to “Buy Land! Buy Land! Buy Land! Here in Western Canada lies the chance of a lifetime. Don’t let your opportunity go by and live with your family in poverty and die a poor man’s death. Get your title deeds to a piece of city or farm property if you have to pawn your clothes to do it.” [14]
Finkelstein juggled his time as mayor of Tuxedo with his real estate business. It is perhaps in this capacity that he was first attracted to 86 St. Charles Street. He might have noticed the home if he had occasion to use the ferry at the end of the street. Perhaps he drove past it en route to the Royaumont Golf Course. It is also likely that he saw the 1941 ad below among his own real estate listings:
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| Winnipeg Tribune, November 29, 1941 [15] |
Interesting. It seems an employee of Finkelstein’s lived there in 1945:
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| Flora Ann McInnes lived with her sister, Mrs. Mary M. Partington, at 86 St. Charles Street. Winnipeg Tribune, November 6, 1945 [16] |
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| Winnipeg Free Press, July 30, 1946 [17] |
Pillars of the Community
By all accounts, David Finkelstein and his wife (Mary Grace Chrysler [Lalande] [1884–1964]) were, to use a cliché, pillars of the community. They were well-to-do and routinely vacationed in southern destinations for much of the winter. In the summer they were often reported to be hosting guests at their summer home in Minaki, Ontario.
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| “Mrs. Finkelstein, with Mr. Finkelstein, is enjoying a sojourn to California and other southern points.” Winnipeg Tribune, January 24, 1936 [18] |
Mary Finkelstein (always “Mrs. D. R. Finklestein” in the press) was often featured in the social pages, and received as much attention as her esteemed husband. She was involved in several good causes, and presided over charity campaigns and functions. A skilled golfer, she travelled to tournaments and often took home the trophy. As a daughter of Abraham Lalande, an entrepreneur, early Vancouver realtor, and one of the first aldermen in Dawson City, she was well acquainted with the the kind of work her husband David pursued. [19]
As busy as Finkelstein was as mayor of Tuxedo and real estate tycoon, he also found time for charitable and community-minded pursuits. As was typical of influential citizens and politicians, he was a member of several organizations and charities. In 1918 he was an Honorary Secretary of the Manitoba Division of the Canadian Red Cross, and headed their Suburban Committee during WWII. He was on the executive committee of the Children’s Hospital Fund in 1919, and was an honorary officer of the Greater Winnipeg Housing and Planning Association in 1938.
David R. Finkelstein died on February 14, 1952 in his Tuxedo home, 331 Kelvin Boulevard. He is buried in Gananoque, Ontario, 34 km east of Kingston, in the area where his wife’s family were from.
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| Winnipeg Free Press, February 15, 1952 [20] |
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| Finkelstein headstone in the Gananoque Cemetery, Ontario [21] |
Sources
https://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/Heritage/ListCommemorativeResources.stm
2. “400 St. Charles Street: Laflèche House”
https://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/Documents/Heritage/ListHistoricalResources/St-Charles-400-summary.pdf
3. City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development Department, List of Historical Resources
https://www.winnipeg.ca/ppd/Heritage/ListHistoricalResources.stm
4. Manitoba Historical Society, Historic Sites of Manitoba: Laflèche House (400 St. Charles Street, Winnipeg)
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/laflechehouse.shtml
5. Finkelstein biographies:
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/finkelstein_dr.shtml
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Finkelstein-324 Photo of David R. Finkelstein, from Who’s Who in Western Canada: A Biographical Dictionary of Notable Living Men and Women of Western Canada, Volume 1, 1911. C. W. Parker, editor. Canadian Press Association, Vancouver.
6. Christie & Heubach advertisement, Winnipeg Free Press, November 12, 1901, p. 2.
7. “Tuxedo, Winnipeg,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxedo,_Winnipeg
