The Cathedral-Basilica is a famous landmark and because of it St. Boniface is often referred to as the "Cathedral City". The first church was a modest one, a private home, and was used from 1818. The first Cathedral was started by Father Provencher and dedicated in 1825, the second in 1839, and the third in 1862. The latter was built by Bishop Taché and replaced by what are the now also-burnt-out standing walls of the structure of what remains of the fourth cathedral, which was dedicated in 1908 by Bishop Langevin.

 The main altar (largely retained in the modern church) was designed and erected by a local-born architect, Mr. Louis Gauthier. His father, Joseph Gauthier, a stonecutter, came to St. Boniface for the erection of the Cathedral and the stone effigy of St. Boniface over the main entrance is one of his works. The current (fifth) Cathedral, dedicated in 1972, is a much more modest modern affair constructed within those stone walls remaining after the most recent cathedral fire of the fourth and most monumental cathedral on July 22, 1968.

(Source: Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, anniversary year 1818-1968, p 25 [Adapted and corrected])

The cemetery located on the grounds of the St Boniface Cathedral has been in existence for over 200 years. Its true boundaries are unknown in 2023. The headstones currently visible there represent a very small portion of the more than 6,000 people known to be buried there.

Many, if not all, of the wooden grave markers have deteriorated and have not been replaced. In addition, too often there is not even a record of the burial site. Some of the earliest records and other relevant information were destroyed in one of the Cathedral fires in 1860. In fact, that was just one of the five times the cathedral was completely rebuilt. Some of those efforts also involved the relocation of graves, further complicating the task of locating any one specific grave.

A meticulous effort by a dedicated researcher to document the history of this yard that underwent many changes through the many decades of its existence, has resulted in a document (largely in French but with many passages in English) entitled "Les plus de 6 000 inhumés dans le Cimetière de la Cathédrale", a copy of which is kept by the Société historique de Saint-Boniface in its library at the Centre du patrimoine(340, boulevard Provencher).

NOTE: Though a new columbarium is now available, allowing many more people to choose this site as their final resting place, after about 1902, most parish burials occurred in the newer cemetery established by the Parish on Archibald Avenue, some (5 km) to the southeast. An exception is allowed in that the priests of the diocese are still buried in this cemetery.

Western Canada's oldest Catholic cemetery, the St. Boniface Cathedral Cemetery, is the final resting place for Louis Riel and many of the West's first Catholic settlers, key figures and missionaries. A marker on the north side of the cemetery denotes the burial location of (both Memorable Manitobans per the MHS) voyageur Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and his wife Marie Anne Gaboury.

Among just some of the other noteworthy people buried here are the following (Memorable Manitobans all, per the MHS, though their graves may be poorly documented due to the history of the place): Joseph E. Cauchon, Joseph Dubuc, Marc Girard, Adelard Langevin, A. A. C. La Riviere, Ambroise Lepine, Joseph-Norbert Provencher, and Alexander Tache.

Source: Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD02-04-11-03-E1

In the historic neighbourhood of Saint-Boniface in Greater Winnipeg

As mentioned above, a part of the town's story and those of its inhabitants from the earliest days of European settlement through roughly 1968 is told in the volume "Saint-Boniface, Manitoba, Canada, anniversary year 1818-1968", especially starting on page 25. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

The St Boniface Historical Society (La Société historique de Saint-Boniface) maintains extensive records of the lives led by and influences of the people in Manitoba who had French ancestry, be it recently from France and Belgium, or by way of Quebec.

The Saint-Boniface Cathedral is recognized as a Provincial Heritage Site by the Government of Manitoba Historic Resources Branch (#080)