More Abandoned Manitoba: Rivers, Rails and Ruins released in October contains photos and stories of more than two dozen sites he’s visited in the past two years.

Wherever he goes, there’s always more stories to tell, he told a recent Carman audience.

“I sometimes worry that I’m running out of good material,” he said. “Then just the other day someone contacted me and told me a really good story,” he said, with the emphasis on ‘really.’

“I wanted to drop everything and go there.”

No doubt, he will.

Goldsborough’s curiosity has already taken him to remote and little-known places across rural Manitoba, his research unearthing intriguing stories about the places he visits.

Stories in More Abandoned Manitoba aren’t just about buildings we’ve neglected or forgotten, says its author. They describe these sites’ features, but also what caused them to be abandoned, and what that tells us about the past and present.

‘Abandonment’ stories are important stories, said Goldsborough.

“In each chapter there is a story about something that’s not just the place that’s no longer in use, but about the bigger phenomena that the place illustrates,” he said.

[AUDIO (below): Gordon Goldsborough on the importance of learning about rural Manitoba]

One chapter, for instance, describes three enormous metal-clad buildings along the railway in Killarney. Even locals don’t necessarily know what those buildings were once used for. His book explains how they were originally used as storage for processed flax fibre, and that chapter explores an era when large volumes of flax were grown here to be processed into paper.

In other sections, Goldsborough takes readers inside the building and the story of McKenzie’s Seeds Building in Brandon, and up to Gilbert Plains’ tiny ‘beef ring’ slaughterhouse. These are stories about the advancement of the seed-growing industry and how refrigeration changed the way we live. In other chapters he describes the ‘package farms’ of southeastern Manitoba, created as turnkey farm operations by an American land developer. One fascinating chapter describes the advancement of water and sewer systems, citing the location of a New Year’s Eve celebration in 1966, when Bowsman residents collectively torched their outhouses.

A map in the book illustrates what he’s coined Manitoba’s ‘Booze Belt,’ a pattern of liquor consumption across the province he ascertained after looking at RCMP reports of seizures of illegal stills. And that story begins at the epicentre of hard drinking in the Interlake — the now decaying Crabby Steve’s Dance Hall along Hwy. 7.

As the supplier of grain elevator photos to the Manitoba Co-operator, Goldsborough also devotes an entire chapter to this province’s last remaining wooden elevators, with another map showing past and present sites.

How his ‘abandoned books’ all began is a tale unto itself. It all started after his wife unearthed a 1912 licence plate buried in clean fill on their property, he said.

Goldsborough was so intrigued by the artifact, he did some sleuthing to identify not only the car’s original owner, but eventually mapping out car registrations across the entire province that year. That produced a fascinating story of car ownership and culture, and rising prosperity not just in Winnipeg but in towns and villages across Manitoba.

He’s already hinting there might be an ‘Even More… ’ book to come.

His publisher insisted he condense material in this 280-page book so he’s had to leave several intriguing tales out of this latest release.

What drives him to pursue this work is a desire to make sure these stories and what they have to tell us about ourselves today aren’t forgotten, said Goldsborough.

“Many people around the province of a certain age have recollections of places like old dance halls or one-room schoolhouses,” he said.

“But this is information that’s going to be gone in 10 or 20 years. I think it’s important we try to save it.”

Goldsborough is the head researcher, webmaster, and a past president of the Manitoba Historical Society. He is also a member of the department of biological sciences at the University of Manitoba as a water quality specialist concerned with the impacts of humans on wetlands and lakes.

His series “Abandoned Manitoba” on the CBC weekend morning show has been running since mid-2015.

Between now and December 7 Goldsborough is visiting a dozen rural communities to launch the book. A complete list of locations he’ll visit is found at the Manitoba Historical Society website.

The post New tales told in ‘More Abandoned Manitoba’ appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The building was owned by the RM of Mountain which took possession of it in a tax sale after its private owner passed away.

Equipment operators rolled in March 5 after council deliberated on what to do with the huge, dilapidated wooden structure.

This wasn’t an easy choice to make, but the condition of the site had become too much a liability for the municipality, said Mountain’s chief administrative officer.

“There was some concern of it being a fire hazard right in the middle of town,” said Paige Larocque.

“We’ve had a few incidents where someone did try to light it on fire. Council just wanted to eliminate that risk and that’s why it decided to get rid of it.

“It was a very difficult decision,” she added. “I know a lot of people in town feel it’s a landmark.”

Birch River’s elevator is just the most recent to come down. Since last May Manitoba has lost another half-dozen elevators.

A former Manitoba Pool Elevator at Clanwilliam, also unused, was demolished last month. Last April a Paterson elevator at Morris came down and another Paterson site was demolished at Meadows in July. In May the Manitoba Pool Elevator at Hathaway was demolished and another former UGG site at Killarney came down in September. The Central Grain facility on Archibald Street in Winnipeg was also demolished last summer.

A Manitoba historian with an avid interest in country grain elevators, and keeping tabs on the condition of those that remain, says it’s likely just a matter of time before a lot more are gone.

Gordon Goldsborough — who supplies the photos for this newspaper’s ‘This Old Elevator’ series — now counts just 133 wooden elevators still standing in Manitoba. He has been assessing the condition of these remaining sites with information provided by readers and during his own visits and travels in rural Manitoba.

It looks to him right now as many as 40 per cent of those last standing sites are no longer in use, Goldsborough said.

“What that says to me is there is a very large number of elevators that are probably not long for this world.”

Goldsborough’s contacts with municipal officials and landowners, plus notifications through social media, help him keep abreast of which ones are next due for demolition.

He’d hoped to get to Birch River to document the deconstruction, but word came too late, he said.

“I was hoping to get up there and see it happen.”

He visited the Clanwilliam site last summer to take photos and it was obvious its days were numbered, he said.

“The Clanwilliam site was in pretty rough shape,” he said. “It had been thoroughly vandalized and there was pigeon poop all over the place. It was pretty obvious it had not been maintained for quite a long time.”

Goldsborough has set up an online site ‘Manitoba Elevator Countdown’ where these last 133 elevator sites are mapped and hopes people will look at it and contact him with updates on sites, including more pending demolitions.

He won’t be surprised to learn there’s fewer than 133 left, he said.

“By publicizing this list I’m sure there’ll be someone who will say, ‘you’ve missed one,’ and I’ll find out about another that’s come down.”

Goldsborough arrived at his 40 per cent abandonment figure after determining about 50 per cent remains still actively used as grain storage facilities.

Another 32 per cent was “obviously abandoned,” he said.

“The remaining percentage I couldn’t tell.”

Last ones standing

The Manitoba Historical Society website has a map link to the Manitoba Elevator Countdown. The countdown includes only wooden elevators, not the concrete ones. Symbols on the map denote what type of site it is, museum sites such as Inglis at Plum Coulee are in pink, one elevator in green is not at its last commercial location but still stands at a Hutterite colony. Clicking on a symbol on the map brings up an information page for a particular elevator.

The post FALLING NUMBER: More wooden grain elevators bite the dust in Manitoba appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevator each week in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is interested in hearing all sorts of experiences about the elevators — funny, sad, or anything in between. Readers willing to share their stories can leave messages at 204-474-7469.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: February 2018 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is interested in hearing all sorts of experiences about the elevators — funny, sad, or anything in between. Readers willing to share their stories can leave messages at 204-474-7469.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: October 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is interested in hearing all sorts of experiences about the elevators — funny, sad, or anything in between. Readers willing to share their stories can leave messages at 204-474-7469.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: September 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevator each week in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is interested in hearing all sorts of experiences about the elevators — funny, sad, or anything in between. Readers willing to share their stories can leave messages at 204-474-7469.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: July 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevator each week in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is interested in hearing all sorts of experiences about the elevators — funny, sad, or anything in between. Readers willing to share their stories can leave messages at 204-474-7469.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: June 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevators in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is especially interested in determining when elevators were demolished. Readers with photos of elevator demolitions and dates of when these occurred can contact him directly at gordon@mhs.mb.ca or call 204-782-8829.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: May 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevators in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is especially interested in determining when elevators were demolished. Readers with photos of elevator demolitions and dates of when these occurred can contact him directly at gordon@mhs.mb.ca or call 204-782-8829.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: April 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevators in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

MHS Gordon Goldsborough webmaster and Journal editor has developed a website to post your replies to a series of questions about elevators. The MHS is interested in all grain elevators that have served the farm community.

Your contributions will help gather historical information such as present status of elevators, names of companies, owners and agents, rail lines, year elevators were built — and dates when they were torn down (if applicable).

There is room on the website to post personal recollections and stories related to grain elevators. The MHS presently also has only a partial list of all elevators that have been demolished. You can help by updating that list if you know of one not included on that list.

Your contributions are greatly appreciated and will help the MHS develop a comprehensive, searchable database to preserve the farm community’s collective knowledge of what was once a vast network of grain elevators across Manitoba.

Please contribute to This Old Grain Elevator website here.

You will receive a response, by email or phone call, confirming that your submission was received.

Goldsborough is especially interested in determining when elevators were demolished. Readers with photos of elevator demolitions and dates of when these occurred can contact him directly at gordon@mhs.mb.ca or call 204-782-8829.

The post PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: March 2017 appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.