Manitoba Grain Elevators – Your Railway Pictures

The Grain Elevators
of Manitoba, Canada


Alberta	Saskatchewan

Return to The Grain Elevators
of Western Canada

This site is a collection of Grain Elevators from Western Canada.
They were submitted to me by Art Grieve and his sister in-law Elizabeth Grieve.
They have collected these picture during their travels around the area.
Many of these elevators are no longer standing
You are invited to submit any picture that you have that fit any of these pages.
E mail me
johnmacdoanld@summerville-novascotia.com

A brief history of the Grain Elevators of Western Canada

The grain elevators in Western Canada have for years been referred to as prairie icons, prairie cathedrals or prairie sentinels and have become a visual symbol of what farming in this part of the country is all about. There were as many as 5758 in 1933. These grain elevators dominated the prairie landscape for more than a century with every community having at least one.
They were the first step in a grain trading process that moves the grain from producer to worldwide markets. The first grain elevator was a strictly utilitarian building considered by anyone that viewed them to be anything but that.
They were designed for one purpose, getting the grain into railway boxcars. The farmers, who at first shoveled their grain into 2-bushel sacks which they then transported to a loading platform along the rail line. There, they emptied the sacks into a waiting boxcar, a back-breaking and inefficient job. They needed something much better if the west was to grow. A means of storing and shipping grain quickly, This brought about the small, one-storey wood frame warehouses erected by farmers. The railways demanded larger, vertical warehouses that could take advantage of gravity to empty the grain and a mechanism known as the “leg” was devised, an endless belt with cups or scoops attached, was devised to load the grain in the elevators. This leg is what gave the name to and determined the shape of the grain elevator.
Today many of these grain elevators are being dismantled and removed from the landscape. Railway lines are being abandoned and the railways want them removed for safety reason.
Many of the grain elevators shown on this site are no longer in existence.
It’s just another sign of progress.
I hope that you enjoy your visit to this site and can appreciate
Art Grive’s work in keeping some of these alive.
For a more detailed history of the Grain Elevators plese go to the following site .
The Canadian Encyclopedia (Grain Elevators)


Angusville MB	Austin MB

Baldur MB	Beausejour MB

Bellsite MB	Buelah MB

Birch River MB	Birdtail MB

Birtle MB	Bloom MB

Boissevain MB	Bowsman MB

Brandon MB	Brunkhild MB

Burnside MB	Carey MB

Clanwilliam MB	Clearwater MB

Coulter MB	Cromer MB

Crystal City MB	Culross MB

Cypress River MB	Dalny MB

Dauphin MB	Domain MB

Dugald MB	Dugald MB

Dufresne MB	Dufresne MB

Dunrea MB	Dutton MB

Elgin MB	Elgin MB

Elie MB	Elkhorn MB

Ethelbert MB	Fork River MB

Forrest MB	Gladstone MB

Glass MB	Glenella MB

Goodland MB	Grandview MB

Hargrave MB	Hartney MB

Holland MB	Homewood MB

Hope Farm MB	Huron Colony

Isabella MB	Jordan MB

Kane MB	Katrime MB

Killarney MB	LaRiviere MB

LaSalle MB	Lena MB

Letellier MB	Lowe Farm MB

Lyleton MB	Makinak MB

Manitou MB	Mariapolis MB

Marqette MB	Marquette MB

McCreary MB	Meadows MB

Medora MB	Melita MB

Melita MB	Mentmore MB

Morden MB	Morris MB

Morden MB courtesy of Elizabeth Grieve

Nesbitt MB	Natley MB


Newdale MB	Ninga MB

Niverville MB	Oak River MB

Oakburn MB	Oakville MB

Plum Coulee MB	Reston MB

Rivers MB	Rossburn MB

Rosser MB	Russell MB

Sandy Lake MB	Sanford MB

Silverton MB	Sinclair MB

Sommerset MB	Sperling MB

St Jean Baptiste MB	Ste Agathe MB

Steele Bridge Farm	Swan Lake MB

Swan River MB	Teulon MB

Warren MB	Waskada MB

Westroc MB	Winkler MB

Winnipeg MB	Winnipegosis MB