It is named for field marshal Sir Garnet Wolseley, a British Army officer who came to Manitoba in 1870 to suppress the Red River Rebellion.

Happyland included a 90-metre Doric-style entrance, a roller coaster, ballroom, Japanese tea gardens, Ferris wheel, and a 240-metre circular swing.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the large houses, central location, and low real estate prices enticed many young people to return to Wolseley.

This new Wolseley generation were largely artistic and socially active young adults who began rejuvenating and gentrifying the area.

The neighbourhood of Wolseley is bounded on the south by the Assiniboine River, on the west by Omand's Creek, on the north by Portage Avenue and on the east by Maryland Street.