Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ashdown Building (476 Main Street, Winnipeg)

In 1904, Winnipeg architect J. H. G. Russell designed a new foundation for an existing, three-storey 1880s building on this site, the store for merchant James H. Ashdown. A few months later, the building was destroyed by fire but two new storeys were built hastily on the undamaged foundation. Four more storeys were added to it in 1905.

A list of company employees killed during military service in the First World War was published in 1919.

A one-storey addition was made to the north side of the building in 1959, along with extensive exterior renovation, on designs by the architectural firm of Moody and Moody. The Ashdown store closed in 1970 and the building was sold to Big 4 Sales which operated here until 1992. The building was later renovated for use by a variety of businesses and cultural organizations. It is a municipally-designated historic site.

Ashdown Building (circa 1903) Source: An Illustrated Souvenir of Winnipeg Ashdown Building (June 2014) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Ashdown Building (April 2021) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89787, W97.13908 denoted by symbol on the map above

Company Casualties of the First World War

Name	Occupation	Service	Rank	Birth Date	Death Date
Norman Harold Bell [Maryland Methodist]	Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	26 January 1881	31 October 1916
Alfred Driver	Order Clerk	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	13 February 1894	10 November 1917
Cecil Hobday [Next of Kin]	Clerk	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	12 April 1895	15 September 1916
John Frances Hourihan	Invoice Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	11 January 1894	30 October 1917
John MacHenry	Clerk	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	2 May 1885	9 April 1917
Andrew Gray Nicol [Next of Kin, Westminster]	Clerk	Canadian Railway Troops	Lance Corporal	19 August 1886	4 April 1917
Robert Spaul	Checker	78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	23 June 1889	7 January 1917
Thomas White [Next of Kin, Norwood Presbyterian]	Elevator Operator	8th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	12 April 1896	1 May 1915
Thomas Grant Roffey	Clerk	27th Battalion, Canadian Infantry	Private	3 January 1893	4 August 1918

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: James Henry Ashdown (1844-1924)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ashdown House (529 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Ashdown Warehouse (167 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites

Sources:

“Honor roll of the J. H. Ashdown Hardware Co. Limited,” Winnipeg Tribune, 8 September 1919, page 51.

Big 4 Sales (Formerly J. H. Ashdown Hardware Store), 476 Main Street, Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, March 1998.

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Darryl Toews.

Page revised: 22 October 2021

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