Main Street runs from the Forks through the junction of Portage and Main and on northwards. Since Winnipeg's incorporation in 1874, Main Street has remained one of the city's principal thoroughfares. Upon this artery financial institutions erected or leased premises to capitalize on the demand for increasing volumes of capital. Extending from Main and Portage in the south to Bannatyne in the north, the boundaries of Bankers' Row had been firmly established by 1883. Within these geographical perimeters, banks would later erect new grandiose structures and finance much of the prairies' development. This area would be at the peak of its architectural glory by the start of the First World War.