October 19: Architect Samuel Hooper; Disraeli Bridge opens; Empire Hotel.

October 19, 1884 - Lieutenant-Governor Joseph Edouard Cauchon opens his Cauchon Block on Main Street. 

“The new Cauchon Block, one of the handsomest and most substantial in the city... contains eight stores, 6 on Main Street and two on York Street. Each store is 25 by 80 with plate glass fronts. There are some fifty offices in the upper flats. The building is to be heated with steam. There is an elevator ... and altogether the edifice is a decided acquisition to the city. The shops are adapted to either a wholesale or retail business.”

(Manitoba Free Press, February 7, 1883)

It was built as a commercial building but opened in a recession and was soon converted into Winnipeg's first apartment block. In 1905 it became the Empire Hotel which was demolished in 1982. (See my expanded post here.)

October 19, 1911 - Architect Samuel Hooper dies. In private practice and as Manitoba’s first provincial architect he designed dozens of the province’s most prominent buildings including St. Mary’s Academy, the Vaughan Street Jail, the Neepawa Land Titles Office and the Brandon Court House. For a video montage of some of Hooper's buildings.

October 19, 1960 - At 11 a.m. Mayors Juba of Winnipeg and Suttie of East Kildonan walk with their respective councils from opposite ends of the Disraeli Bridge to meet Premier Roblin in the middle. There, they cut the ribbon and declare the structure open. For more on the history of the Disraeli Bridge.

October 19, 2009 - Greg Selinger is sworn in as Manitoba's 21st Premier, replacing Gary Doer.

October 19, 2009 - Gary Doer becomes Canada's Ambassador to the United States.