Winfield.

How Winfield took shape

Winfield is Lake Country's commercial and civic centre at the south end of Wood Lake. It takes its name from Winfield Lodge, the ranch house of Thomas Wood, who preempted land here in 1871; residents chose the name in 1920. Orchards, packinghouses and the 1925 railway shaped it, and its population nearly doubled from 2001 to 2021.

The Lake Country museum records a syilx name for this valley floor, K'Laokum, the open flat. Wood Lake, Pelmewash, lies at its north end, and Middle Vernon Creek winds through from Duck Lake. Thomas Wood, a Newfoundlander who came west in the early 1860s, preempted 320 acres at the south end of the lake in 1871 and built a log ranch house he called Winfield Lodge. He grew the ranch to about 3,800 acres, served as a justice of the peace and retired in 1902. As orchards replaced cattle, the settlement was called Wood's Lake, and its first post office, from 1909 to 1919, was Alvaston, named by postmaster Arthur Chatterton after his family's English hometown. The office sat so far off the stage road that neighbours kept a jam tin of stamps in a roadside box. In 1920 a public meeting chose the name Winfield over Woodsdale.

Packinghouses followed the fruit. Jack Seaton built one in 1919, the Vernon Fruit Union in 1921 and a growers' cooperative in 1922, on the new rail grade. Winfield Lodge was torn down in 1923 for the Canadian National line, finished in 1925. George Elliot Secondary opened in 1959, and a Hiram Walker distillery began production in 1971. Winfield has grown fastest of the four wards, from 5,090 people in 2001 to 9,767 in 2021, and more than half its homes date from after 2000. The OCP adopted in July 2026 points growth toward Main Street, and a community centre in a converted cold storage building beside the arena is due to open in early 2027.

1. 1871Thomas Wood preempts 320 acres at the south end of Wood Lake and builds Winfield Lodge. Source
2. 1909Alvaston Post Office opens on October 1 with Arthur Chatterton as postmaster; it closes in 1919. Source
3. 1920A community meeting chooses the name Winfield. Source
4. 1925The Canadian National line between Vernon and Kelowna is completed through Winfield. Source
5. 1959George Elliot High School opens. Source

The homes & their setting

The Winfield ward had 3,870 private dwellings in 2021, up from 1,920 in 2001. The stock is 56% single detached, 17% apartments under five storeys, 14% duplex, and smaller shares of row and semi detached homes. About 52% were built from 2001 to 2021 and 23% from 1981 to 2000; 76% are owner occupied.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Winfield heritage marker, Bottom Wood Lake Road — In a small park west of the traffic circle; tells the story of Thomas Wood and early Winfield. History source
• Winfield Memorial Hall — Opened in 1949 and dedicated to residents who served in both world wars; it replaced the 1910 hall. History source
• Old Winfield Cemetery, Cemetery Road — The district's oldest cemetery, dating to about 1905, with about 28 known burials. History source