Welcome to Portage and Main.
This is Winnipeg's most iconic and famous intersection. It is also known as "The Windy Corner", and the "crossroads of Canada".
The land upon which Portage and Main sits was originally purchased by Henry McKenney on 2 June 1862. He chose land where the north-south and east-west ox cart paths crossed, in order to build a general store with his half-brother John Christian Schultz.
Portage and Main is now the hub of some of Winnipeg's main transportation routes. It was once the centre for the banking industry in Western Canada. The national banks have branches accessible from beneath Portage and Main. It has served as a temporary city square and meeting place for parades and events.
It has a reputation as the coldest and windiest corner in Canada, but that claim is not proven, although “Prairie Town” probably has something to do with it. The average temperature in Winnipeg for January is -16.4 C.
Portage and Main has served as an anchor point for occasional street festivals and the winter lighting of holiday street decorations.
On June 27, 1972, Bobby Hull stood at Portage and Main and signed the largest contract in hockey history at that time. The player, known as the Golden Jet, joined the Winnipeg Jets for almost $2.8 million over 10 years, but he was paid $1 million up front. It made him the first player to sign a million-dollar contract.
In 1976, the City of Winnipeg signed an agreement with private developers to open an underground concourse linking shopping malls under the four corner properties. This included a 40-year deal to permanently close the pedestrian crossings at the intersection, which street works were completed around 1978. The concourse and walkways are currently connected through the Winnipeg Skywalk.
On 13 August 1981, Portage and Main was the place where Dale Hawerchuk signed his contract with the Winnipeg Jets and later was the location of the "Save the Jets" rallies in 1995 and 1996.
In 2016, with the deal to close the intersection set to expire, city officials were contemplating re-opening of the intersection to pedestrians. However, in a plebiscite in 2018, 65% of voters voted in favour of keeping the intersection closed to pedestrians, with many concerned about traffic congestion. The mayor agreed to accept the results of that plebiscite and did not reopen the intersection
To mark Canada 150 in 2017, about 3,600 people gathered at Portage and Main to create a living flag. The majority of people wore red and crowded together to create a giant maple leaf. A handful of people dressed in white were used to spell out “150” below the leaf. The downtown Winnipeg business improvement zone said the human display was the largest living Canadian flag and largest living maple leaf.
There is also a 1974 eight-cent stamp featuring the corner.
To log this cache please do the following:
1. Look around at the four corners. Please state one thing you see at each corner. It can be a sign, building name, monument, basically anything that is at least semi-permanently there.
2. Near the posted coordinates there is a statue. What are all the words and all numbers that are at the bottom of the statue? This can be sent in the same message as above.
3. Post a picture in your log of the Portage & Main sign found near the posted coordinates. Try to include something that indicates that you were in fact physically there but the picture MUST include the sign that has the words Portage & Main on it,
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.