This four-storey brick and stone structure at the southwest corner of Princess Street and Elgin Avenue in Winnipeg, measuring 68 feet by 99 feet, was designed by architect Charles Arnold Barber and erected in 1892 by owner Nicholas Bawlf at a cost of about $30,000. Its original configuration contained two retail spaces on the main floor which were occupied originally by the agricultural implements dealership of Frost & Wood and merchant Henry Shaver Wesbrook. The upper two flors were occupied by the Grain and Produce Exchange and the Winnipeg Board of Trade.
When the second Grain Exchange Building was built next door, in 1898, the two buildings shared a party wall and were connected by fire doors. Originally having just three storeys, a fourth storey was added in 1902. Both buildings were acquired in 1938 by the City of Winnipeg for tax arrears.
The building was demolished to make way for the downtown campus of the Red River College although its exterior façade was retained. In 2004, the building (a municipally-designated historic site) was recognized with a Heritage Winnipeg Preservation Award.
Bawlf Building (1893)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 2 December 1893, page 10.
Bawlf Building (circa 1903)
Source: An Illustrated Souvenir of Winnipeg, William A. Martel & Sons, 1903.
Facade of the former Bawlf Building (June 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Aerial view of the former Bawlf Building (September 2024)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90034, W97.14098
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Charles Arnold Barber (1848-1915)
Memorable Manitobans: Nicholas Bawlf (1849-1914)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Drake Hotel / Benson Block (146 Princess Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Grain Exchange Building (156-160 Princess Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Grain Exchange Building (167 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
“Building and real estate,” Manitoba Free Press, 8 October 1892, page 3.
“Higher value represented in new building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 December 1893, page 10.
Bawlf Grain Exchange Building (164 Princess Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, June 1979.
We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 29 September 2024
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