216 PRINCESS-
THOMAS SCOTT MEMORIAL ORANGE HALL
The three-story building was constructed in 1902 by long term owner the Orange Order for its new headquarters on Princess Street.
Founded in 1795 the Orange Order was a Protestant fraternal organization. It supported Protestantism and the British Monarchy, and attracted not only Irish immigrants but Scots and English as well. The group had steady growth and by the early 1900’s a permanent structure was thought necessary. It was named for Thomas Scott, and Irish born Orangeman who was killed by Riel’s men during the Red River Rebellion of 1869-1870.
The building was owned by the Provincial Grand Orange Lodge of Manitoba into the 1990’s.
The basement and ground floor were used as showroom and warehouse space and was rented out to various tenants including MB Steel Company and JH Heinz Company of Canada. The second floor was used as the Orange Order’s meeting hall and included symbols of the Order. The third floor was used as a dance hall. In the buildings later years, it was used mostly for warehouse and storage and then finally as an antique store.
In 2020 the building was demolished after suffering structural issues from soil conditions and therefor deemed unsafe. A new building was constructed in its place and makes up the north portion of Carriage Works Lofts.
We are excited to carry on the buildings heritage and history at Carriage Works Lofts.
The period of 1900-1914 was one of nearly excessive growth in Winnipeg, and Princess Street had always been one of the Warehouse District’s most important thoroughfares.
In 1902 the McLaughlin Carriage Company chose a lot at the corner of Princess Street and Ross Avenue to build a showroom and warehouse, and then within four more years had doubled its size with a large edition.
The ground floor was used as a showroom space and the upper floors were used to store the stock of horse drawn carriages, buggies, wagons and sleighs that they sold.
204-212 PRINCESS STREET-
MCLAUGHLIN CARRIAGE COMPANY BUILDING
Also at this time the automobile was evolving, and The McLaughlin Company acquired the rights to assemble Buicks in Canada. The Princess Street location began advertising automobiles and slowly transitioned from selling carriages to automobiles. McLaughlin Motor remained in the Princess building until moving operations to Maryland Street garage in 1924.
In the years following, the location was occupied by the Princess Street Dining Hall (soup kitchen), Beatty Brothers Farm Implements, Carson Investments, Park Leather Ltd, Northern Shoe Co. and Beaver Headware.
Carters Auction occupied a portion of the building in the 1990’s and Black’s Auction in the early 2000’s.
It was used primarily for storage before being purchased in 2019 to retrofit into the current Carriage Works loft apartments.
