Vignettes
/Greater Winnipeg
/ Garry-Osborne
Ross House
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In 1825, a former fur-trader named Alexander Ross, brought
his Indian wife and children to Red River to obtain a “Christian
education”. Ross commenced farming on his new
river lot, granted by Sir George Simpson of the Hudson’s
Bay Company. In addition, he kept a store to service the
settlement, and was appointed both councilor and sheriff
to the Council of Assiniboia.
Ross’s son William, was the builder of Ross
House. It was completed in 1855, somewhere behind the present
site of the Centennial Centre on Main Street at a cost of
more than £252. Floods and a shortage of material delayed
completion of the house, but the family eventually took occupancy
in early 1855.
