Walking tours dig into how farming shaped the Exchange District

Farms across Manitoba will open their gates Sunday for Open Farm Day but you don't have to leave Winnipegif you want to learn about the province's rich agricultural history.

Keystone Agricultural Producers is hosting walking tours todayto show how agriculture influenced Winnipeg's early development and how it shaped the Exchange District into what it is today.

Winnipeg's grain trade started on the site of the old Public Safety Building, according to Keystone Agricultural Producers spokesperson Val Ominski. Years later, the exchange moved into two buildings on Princess Street where Red River College is now.

"Those two buildings are no longer, but they are part of the facade of Red River College," she said. "It's really nice to see them preserved."

The tour will also include stops along Main Street and in the West Exchange. It wraps up at the Richardson Building.

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"I wish for one day I could just go back and look at it and look at the buildings," Ominski said, "It's fabulous history, fabulous and so tied to agrictulure."

Tours leave from Winnipeg City Hall at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday and last about an hour. The tours are free and all are welcome.

For more on Open Farm Day, visit Open Farm Day.

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