Link to:
Postmasters | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
This two-storey brick building at the southeast corner of South Railway Street and Cook Street in Boissevain, measuring 25 feet by 68 feet, was designed by Thomas William Fuller (1865-1951), Chief Architect for the Department of Public Works at Ottawa. It was built between late 1934 and early 1935 by contractor John James Morrow of Melita, at a cost of about $17,500, as a one-storey post office.
The building's architecture is a stunning small-town example of the Neo-Gothic style. With its sophisticated wall treatments–elegant and complex brickwork, detailed stonework and animated roofline–the building is unique in Manitoba, where Classical Revival was the style for most small-town post offices.
Built as a Depression-era public works project, the structure was later expanded to two storeys, known today as the Waldron Block.
Period
Postmasters
1886-1901
Alexander McKnight (1854-1932)
1901-1907
William Hall Saults (1856-1910)
1907-1943
Rosa Mary Saults (1882-1947)
1943
Clifford Neville Mains (1890-1948)
1944
Margaret Eleanor Hammond Johnson (1912-1981)
1945-1972
John Kelly
Postcard view of Dominion Post Office at Boissevain (no date)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Postcard view of Dominion Post Office at Boissevain (1950s) by Ralph Harper Hoy
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2023-0003
Dominion Post Office Building at Boissevain (July 2018)
Source: George Penner
Dominion Post Office Building at Boissevain (August 2019)
Source: Rose Kuzina
Dominion Post Office Building at Boissevain (August 2023)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.23035, W100.05550
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: John James Morrow (1874-1962)
Death registration [William Hall Saults], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Birth registration [Margaret Hammond], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Contract for Boissevain building is awarded,” Winnipeg Tribune, 31 November 1934, page 7.
Obituary [Margaret Hammond Johnson], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 May 1981, page 51.
Our First Century: Town of Melita and Municipality of Arthur by Melita-Arthur History Committee, 1983, page 634.
Boissevain Special Places, Heritage Manitoba.
Post Offices and Postmasters, Library and Archives Canada.
Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 by Robert G. Hill, Toronto.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Rose Kuzina and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 3 December 2024
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