Ultimately, it was Americans who created the Canadian town of Emerson.

Prior to the 1870s, the nearest building to the area was a Hudson’s Bay Trading Post. Increased interest in railways brought American businessmen, William Fairbanks and Thomas Carney, to the area. Named for the famous writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, the settlement was created in 1874 with just 100 people. After Manitoba’s first railway line, the Emerson Line, opened in 1878, the settlement saw significant growth. By 1883, Emerson had grown into a town of 10,000.

One of the many people hoping to capitalize on Emerson’s potential was pioneer John Bryce, who arrived in town in the 1880s. His house, known today as the Bryce House, was constructed for his family in 1883. The home is an Italianate style popularized by pattern books. Much like sewing patterns, these were guidebooks on house styles and layouts that often favoured classically inspired design. Bryce House has a buff brick veneer, angled bay windows, and decorative quoins seen in the brick on the facade’s corners.

Hopes were high for Emerson to rival Winnipeg in size. However, when the CPR rail line reached Winnipeg in 1881, Emerson subsequently went bankrupt and those dreams quashed.