This three-storey (originally planned to be five-storey) brick and stone building at the southwest corner of Portage Avenue East and Westbrook Street in Winnipeg, measuring 50 feet by 88 feet, was designed by local architect Herbert Edward Matthews and built between late 1905 and early 1906 for mixed retail and office space for real estate developer Frank C. Bell.
It was occupied by a variety of small scale distributors till the mid-1920s when the Potters Limited, a whole furniture firm became the main tenant. It remained here until the 1940s when the building was taken by the Scott-Bathgate Company.
Architectural drawing of the Bell Warehouse (1905)
Source: Manitoba Free Press, 30 December 1905, page 23.
Potter Building (April 2023)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89460, W97.13570
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Herbert Edward Matthews (1868-1941)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Perrin Warehouse (130 Portage Avenue East, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Scott-Bathgate Building (149 Pioneer Avenue, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Black Building (80 Lombard Avenue, Winnipeg)
“Warehouse for Portage Ave. East,” Manitoba Free Press, 30 December 1905, page 23.
“Insured by fall,” Manitoba Free Press, 14 August 1918, page 5.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Scott-Bathgate Building (149 Pioneer Avenue) by Murray Peterson, City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings and Resources Committee, March 2017.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 10 September 2023
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