File:Winnipeg (6387131115).jpg

The Fyxx, left at 93 Albert Street, is the back of the Woodbine Hotel (1899) at 466 Main Street - Woodbine Hotel

Winnipeg’s first hotel, “The Royal Hotel,” was opened in 1859 by Henry McKenney and was situated between McDermot and Bannatyne Avenues, east of Main Street. By the mid 1870s, there were over thirty-two hotels when the population of Winnipeg was less than 8,000.

The Woodbine Hotel origins date back to these early frontier days when it was known as Dufferin Hall. Built by Peter Sutherland in 1878 at a cost of $1,000 Dufferin Hall was a two-storey wood frame building 22 feet wide and about twice as long. By 1881 it was sold and its name was changed to the Woodbine to appeal to expatriates from eastern Canada familiar with the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. Apparently, it was only a saloon, with no rooms to let, so when Edward H. Hebb bought the hotel in 1889, a dining room and billiard hall were established on the second floor.

Hebb operated the hotel for over thirty years and oversaw numerous alterations to the building. At some time light coloured brick veneer was added to the façade and the two-storey structure was extended at the rear to open onto Albert Street. In 1899, the facade was veneered in dark brick with limestone accents and a scrolled datestone was placed at the top of the building.

A major fire in several neighbouring buildings in 1904 severely damaged the roof and interior of the building. Architect J.H. Cadham designed an additional storey to the building, and extended it to within 30 feet of the front of the hotel on Main Street. After another fire in 1923, architect E.W. Crayston extended the third storey to the street reworked the Main Street facade to its present appearance.