Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College / Manitoba School for the Deaf / Fort Osborne Barracks / Asper Jewish Community Campus (123 Doncaster Street, Winnipeg)

Link to:
Principals | Instructors | Photos & Maps | Sources

The Manitoba Agricultural College was established in 1905, with the objective of educating students in modern farming practices. The first of its kind in Western Canada, and only the third in all of Canada, the college offered courses in horticulture, agricultural engineering, animal husbandry, farm management, and home economics.

The buildings at the college’s first site, at what would later become part of Tuxedo, were designed by provincial architect Samuel Hooper. The first building, constructed in 1905 by the firm of Kelly Brothers and Mitchell, had three floors and a full basement. It measured 128 feet by 64 feet and was made of stone and brick. The basement contained a gymnasium and bowling alley, kitchen, dining room, storage room, workshops, and caretaker's apartment. On the first floor was an auditorium, two lecture rooms, main offices, and a large laboratory. The second floor had a library, museum, large lecture room, two laboratories, classroom, offices, girls sitting room, and women's toilet and sitting room. Student dormitories occupied the entirety of the third floor.

Buildings added later included Roblin Hall (named for premier Rodmond Palen Roblin) and a brick powerhouse constructed in 1906. By 1913, the college had outgrown the site so it was relocated to a new site in the southern part of Winnipeg, in what later became the Fort Garry Campus of the University of Manitoba. The College was integrated into the University in 1924.

From 1914 to 1917, this site served as home for the Manitoba School for the Deaf, the first such institution in Western Canada. In 1917, it became a military convalescent and rehabilitation hospital for soldiers returning from the First World War. Two years later, the entire complex was taken over by the military and renamed Fort Osborne Barracks, replacing a similarly named facility on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislative. It remained the primary army base in Manitoba until 1968 when new barracks were developed farther south, at Kapyong Barracks.

The property here was reacquired by the provincial government and several of the buildings were converted into offices for government departments. The Administration Building was used as a juvenile court facility. Roblin Hall was demolished in the early 1980s, by which time it had been severely vandalized. Late in the building’s life, purple dye for marking gasoline intended for farm use was stored there, and vandals had made its interior a colourful mess.

The campus became a provincially-designated historic site in 1995. The property was sold in 1997 and redeveloped as the Asper Jewish Community Campus of Winnipeg. The Administration Building and Power House became a municipally-designated historic site in 2018. Plaques at the site erected by the Manitoba Heritage Council commemorate the former Agricultural College, Rabbi Israel Isaac Kahanovitch, and the beginning of the Jewish community in Manitoba.

Principals (Agricultural College)

Period	Principal
1905-1913	William John Black (1872-1941)
After 1913	See Manitoba Agricultural College

Instructors to 1913 (Agricultural College)

Instructors after 1913 are listed here.

Instructor	Subject	Period
Spencer Argyle Bedford (1851-1933)	Field Husbandry	1909-1911
J. E. Bergey	Poultry Husbandry	1915-1913
W. Brandon	Engineering and Mechanics	1909
Frederick William Brodrick (1879-1958)	Horticulture and Forestry	1909-1913
J. D. Charlton	Engineering and Mechanics	1910
Mrs. Charlton-Salisbury	Home Economics	1911-1913
F. G. Churchill	Physics, Mathematics, Soils	1909-1913
M. F. Coglon	Chemistry	1911
David L. Cormack	Carpentry, Woodwork	1911-1913
Frederick Walter Crawford (1889-1967)	Animal Husbandry	1913
W. J. Crowe	Buttermaking	1913
Robert Alexander Cunningham (1888-1918)	Chemistry	1913
Miss B. A. Duncan	Household Economics, Cookery	1911-1913
E. H. Farrell	Milk Testing	1910-1913
W. J. Gilmore	Engineering and Mechanics	1913
A. R. Greig	Engineering and Mechanics	1909
Thomas James Harrison (1885-1964)	Field Husbandry	1913
M. C. Herner	Poultry Husbandry	1913
J. C. Hooper	Botany and Mathematics	1909-1911
C. R. Hopper	English	1913
Vincent William Jackson (1876-1953)	Botany	1913
Annie B. Juniper (?-1933)	Household Science	1910-1911
Margaret Kennedy	Household Arts	1910-1913
Charles Henry Lee (1879-?)	Biology, Botany	1909-1913
Samuel Carson Lee (1872-1926)	Physics	1913
S. D. McGilvary	Veterinary Science	1913
J. A. McGregor	Field Husbandry	1913
P. H. McPherson	Engineering and Mechanics	1909-1910
Robert Milne	Agriculture and Engineering, Farm Machinery	1913
J. W. Mitchell	Dairy Husbandry	1909-1913
L. A. Moorhouse	Field Husbandry	1913
G. W. Morden	Chemistry	1909-1913
W. H. Peters	Animal Husbandry	1909-1913
L. J. Smith	Engineering and Mechanics	1909-1913
George Albert Sproule (1872-1936)	English	1909-1913
Frederick Torrance (1859-1924)	Veterinary Science	1909-1911
I. Villeneuve	Cheesemaking	1913
R. Watt	Blacksmithing	1913
G. G. White	Chemistry, Rural Economics and Farm Management	1909-1913
Gordon W. Wood	Animal Husbandry	1913

Photos & Coordinates

Architectural drawing of the Manitoba Agricultural College (1905) Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 20 April 1905, page 6. Postcard view of the Manitoba Agricultural College (circa 1910) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2006-0152 Postcard view of the Manitoba Agricultural College (between 1907 and 1913) Source: Rob McInnes, WP0833 Postcard view of the Manitoba Agricultural College, with Dufferin Hall at left (circa 1912) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0148 Roblin Hall (circa 1912) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2016-0031 Postcard view of the former Manitoba Agricultural College buildings (circa 1908) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2014-0318 Postcard view of two buildings from the Fort Osborne Barracks (circa 1917) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2019-0095 Postcard view of the Manitoba Agricultural College Administration Building (circa 1911) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2013-0074 Postcard view of the Fort Osborne Barracks from the north side of the Assiniboine River (no date) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2020-0009 Aerial view of the Fort Osborne Barracks (1923) by Royal Canadian Air Force Source: Archives of Manitoba, Surveys Branch aerial photographs (A 0262), GR11610, FA 23 - 50. Aerial view of the Fort Osborne Barracks (1923) by Royal Canadian Air Force Source: Archives of Manitoba, Surveys Branch aerial photographs (A 0262), GR11610, FA 23 - 51. The former Manitoba Agricultural College Administration Building, now part of the Asper Jewish Community Campus (June 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Manitoba Agricultural College Administration Building, now part of the Asper Jewish Community Campus (April 2017) Source: George Penner The former Manitoba Agricultural College Power House, now part of the Asper Jewish Community Campus (January 2022) Source: George Penner Manitoba Agricultural College commemorative plaque at the Asper Jewish Community Campus (February 2024) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.87193, W97.20957 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College / University of Manitoba (Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg)

Manitoba Organization: Manitoba School for the Deaf

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Fort Osborne Barracks Monument (Tuxedo Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Kapyong Barracks (Grant Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba School for the Deaf (500 Shaftesbury Boulevard, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate / Faith Academy (437 Matheson Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Provincially Designated Historic Sites

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Agricultural College War Memorial (Fort Garry Campus, University of Manitoba)

Professionalism, Intellectual Practice, and the Educational State Structure in Manitoba Agriculture, 1890-1925 by Jeffery M. Taylor
Manitoba History, Number 18, Autumn 1989

Memorable Manitobans: Israel Isaac Kahanovitch (1872-1945)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Winnipeg Hebrew Free School (Talmud Torah) / German Society Building (121 Charles Street, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Manitoba's new Agriculture College,” Winnipeg Tribune, 20 April 1905, page 6.

“Kelly Bros., Mitchell Limited,” Winnipeg Tribune, 16 December 1905, page 34.

Provincial Government of Manitoba, Various Public Buildings, Government of Manitoba, circa 1912. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, F5605.4 Pro c.2]

Public Accounts, various years, Legislative Library of Manitoba.

Manitoba Agricultural College (Fort Osborne Barracks Site), 139 Tuxedo Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.

We thank George Penner and Nathan Kramer for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 June 2024

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