History preservation awards on offer

The provincial efforts aim to recognize individuals who preserve provincial heritage

If you know anyone who’s put in the time and effort to save or promote Manitoba’s history, now’s the time to nominate them for a provincial award. The province, in consultation with the Manitoba Historical Society, wants to recognize prolonged and meritorious service for heritage preservation Lt.-Gov. Janice Filmon says. “As we celebrate 150 years

A grain elevator at the former CPR railway siding of Cameron (named for Melita implements dealer A. E. Cameron, in the RM of Two Borders, was built by the Lake of the Woods Milling Company sometime between 1902 and 1910. It became part of Ogilvie Milling after the two companies merged in 1954 and was purchased by Manitoba Pool in 1959. The 38,000-bushel elevator was closed around 1970 and sold into private hands. It now stands abandoned, surrounded by cropland.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: January 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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


At the time of this 1962 photo, Brunkild had three grain elevators, one  operated by United Grain Growers and two by Manitoba Pool (A at left, B  in the middle). The UGG agent was G. A. Angus while the Pools were  managed by Gene Ferens (A) and Joseph Storey (B). Only the Pool A  elevator survives today, in use by BESCO Grain.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: December 2016

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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

A wooden grain elevator at the railway siding of Newstead, five miles east of Souris along Highway No. 2, was built in 1936 by the McCabe Grain Company. Bought by United Grain Growers in 1968, the elevator was renovated and an annex was moved beside it from nearby Carroll. The facility was closed in June 1982 and removed from the site.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: November 2016

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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

The first copy of Manitoba historian Gordon Goldsborough’s new book off the press.

New book highlights hidden gems of Manitoba’s history

Abandoned Manitoba: From Residential Schools to Bank Vaults 
to Grain Elevators takes readers to all-but-forgotten places of the past

Some have heard of these places, but few have seen them let alone know the story they tell. Even locals shrug their shoulders, says historian Gordon Goldsborough who set out a few years ago to travel the province and find historic sites. His new book Abandoned Manitoba: From Residential Schools to Bank Vaults to Grain


In 1994, a new elevator was opened at La Riviere by Manitoba Pool,  joining an annex built in 1980. In November 2004, both of them, along  with three steel bins, were moved 14 miles north to Somerset and set  beside an elevator built there in 1992, doubling its capacity. The  facility is now in use by Delmar Commodities.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: October 2016

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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

This photo from 1962 shows the three elevators operating at Altamont at  that time, including two United Grain Growers elevators with markedly  different paint schemes, dating from 1905 (right, built by Ogilvie Flour  Mills) and 1925 (centre). In the background is the CNR train station and  a Federal Grain elevator taken over by Manitoba Pool in 1972. The 1905  elevator came down in 1967 and the 1925 elevator closed in 1993, while  the Pool elevator closed in 1989. The elevators, and the men who  operated them, are commemorated by two model elevators at the site.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: September 2016

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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

A grain elevator and annex at Myrtle, on the CNR Miami Subdivision in the Rural Municipality of Roland, was built in 1928 and operated by United Grain Growers. Seen here in 1966, the complex was closed and demolished in 1984 after a new, larger elevator was opened at nearby Roland.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: August 2016

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” 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


Ernie Braun (l) and Glen Klassen have done everything except the printing for their full-colour book, now in its third printing.

New atlas documents Mennonite history

Two amateur historians pull together a comprehensive 
record of their communities in the East Reserve

When Ernie Braun was a kid growing up near Steinbach, people often drew their identities from the local villages where they were raised. So-and-so lived just east of Schonsee. Another person came from Alt-Bergfeld. Braun himself was from Friedrichsthal. The individual identities of Mennonites were inextricably tied to the places they came from. Braun, a

Bringing all of Manitoba’s local histories together

Manitoba Historical Society wants to digitize them to make them widely available and searchable

The Historical Atlas of the East Reserve is the latest addition to a surprisingly large body of local Manitoba history books. The Manitoba Historical Society website lists over 500 local histories, arranged alphabetically by municipality. Those are the ones MHS knows about. The society believes there may be 1,200 such books out there altogether. Many