Historic Sites of Manitoba: Churchill Grain Elevator and Port (Hudson Bay, Churchill)

Link to:
Port Managers | Shipping Statistics | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The Hudson Bay Railway arrived at Churchill in March 1929. One of the first priorities for construction was a terminal elevator for shipping grain to overseas markets. Designed by C. D. Howe & Company of Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) and erected by the Winnipeg firm of Carter Halls Aldinger for the Canadian government between 1930 and 1931, a four-belt conveyor for loading up to four ships at once, at 20,000 bushels per hour, was completed in 1932. Electricity to operate the facility was generated in a coal-fueled powerhouse next to the elevator, and a building next to the workhouse contained administrative offices, a millwright shop, a staff dining room and rest rooms, and quarters for an inspection department. When completed, the 2,500,000-bushel elevator was the second-largest of its kind in the world. The 56 bins at its north (right) end, added between 1954 and 1955, doubled its capacity.

Port Managers

Period	Port Manager
?-1937	W. Meadows
1938-1954	William N. “Bill” Twolan
1955-1968	H. M. “Slim” Wilson (c1912-?)
1968-1971	George Brennan (?-1971)
1971-1972	Allen Wokes
1973-1976	Earl H. Scharf
1977-1988	Bohdan “Don” Figurski (1932-2017)
1988-1995	Alan Johnson
1995-?	Niels Rasmussen

Shipping Statistics (first ship in port)

Year	Date	First Ship	No. Ships	Total Grain
1929	11 October	SS Ungava Queen	1	?
1930		none	0	0
1931	10 September	SS Farnworth	2	14.8
1932	14 August	SSG Sirentz	10	74.5
1933	13 August	SSG Pennyworth	10	73.7
1934	13 August	SSG Dalworth	15	110.3
1935	14 August	SSG Wentworth	8	65.5
1936	9 August	SS Firby	15	116.9
1937	7 August	SSG Jean LD	2	16.4
1938	25 September	SSG Daleby	3	25.0
1939	12 August	SS Wentworth	6	48.2
1940		none	0	0
1941		none	0	0
1942		none	0	0
1943	25 August	SS Tintagel	1	20.1
1944		none	0	0
1945		none	0	0
1946	10 August	SS Mount Revelstoke	9	79.7
1947	8 August	SS Essex Trader	16	135.4
1948	8 August	SS Great City	15	144.9
1949	8 August	SS Akcyibe Firtybe	16	150.4
1950	31 July	MV Tricape	20	184.2
1951	4 August	SS Warkworth	21	198.1
1952	30 July	SS Warkworth	26	233.6
1953	26 July	SS Warkworth	31	293.5
1954	29 July	MV Anna C	36	339.8
1955	1 August	SS Warkworth	38	355.9
1956	27 July	SS Warkworth	48	442.2
1957	31 July	MV Nordmeer	46	451.1
1958	26 July	MV Richard de Larrinaga	55	533.4
1959	27 July	MV North Devon	58	592.9
1960	27 July	MV Margit Brovig	48	532.9
1961	22 July	SS Gull	48	526.6
1962	27 July	SS Zinnia	49	585.8
1963	27 July	SS Uskok	48	622.3
1964	1 August	SS Warkworth	41	589.1
1965	27 July	MV Trevaylor	45	672.4
1966	26 July	SS Warkworth	40	593.8
1967	23 July	SS Warkworth	33	561.7
1968	26 July	SS Silkworth	34	612.8
1969	23 July	SS Slesvig	29	595.3
1970	31 July	SS Warkworth	35	669.9
1971	7 August	MV Tamworth	37	666.9
1972	5 August	SS Panagos D. Pateros	30	635.8
1973	7 August	MV Tamworth	?	462.0
1974	14 August	SS Atlantic Champion	20	498.0
1975	20 August	MV Carlotta F	21	494.4
1976	1 August	MV Letchworth	27	719.1
1977	24 July	MV Naworth	34	755.2
1978	1 August	MV Fotini	20	542.7
1979	14 August	MV Nikko Maru	20	536.5
1980	11 August	MV Irini GF	12	289.8
1981	11 August	MV Studzianki	?	?
1982	6 August	SS Bandar Demta	?	?
1983	8 August	SS Paulina C	?	?
1984	1 August	MV Hampton Lion	?	?
1985	3 August	MV Sealink	?	?
1986	29 July	MV Mijdrecht	?	?
1987	8 August	MV Dmitrovsky Komsomol	?	?
1988	5 October	MV Stena Arctica	?	?
1989	25 August	MV Ethnos	?	?
1990	27 July	MV Kristjan Palusalu	?	?
1991	12 August	MV Powstaniec Listopadowy	?	?
1992	21 August	MV Franciskos CK	?	?
1993	21 July	MT Turid Knutsen	?	?
1994	22 August	MV Belle	?	?
1995	30 July	MV Gorlitz	?	?
1996	4 August	MV Cargo Trader	?	?
1997	29 July	MV Theotoko	?	?
1998	13 July	MT Nathalie Sif	?	?
1999	24 July	MV Akademic Ioffe	?	?
2000	11 July	MV Federal Rhine	?	?
2001	23 July	MV Zodio	?	?
2002	29 July	MV Semiramis	?	?
2003	26 July	MV Goviken	?	?
2004	29 July	MV Oriental	?	?
2005	29 July	MV Federal Polaris	?	?
2006	14 August	MV DS Vanguard	?	?
2007	21 July	MV Patent	?	?
2008	4 August	MV Dimitris	?	?
2009	12 August	MV Hamburg Pearl	?	?
2010	28 July	MV Federal Danube	?	?
2011	4 August	MV Pacific Bulker	?	?
2012	10 August	MV Puffin	?	?
2013	5 August	MV Atlantic Dream	?	?
2014	4 August	MV Ikan Suji	?	?
2015	6 September	MV Clipper Bettina	?	?
2016	?	?	?	?
2017		none	0	0
2018		none	0	0

Photos & Coordinates

Churchill terminal elevator under construction (circa 1931) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2016-0229 Churchill terminal elevator with newer storage bins in the foreground, workhouse in the centre, older storage bins in the background, adjacent to the powerhouse (late 1950s) Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2016-0001 Churchill Terminal Elevator (no date) Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0082 Ships loading at the Churchill Terminal Elevator (October 2009) Source: Mike Macri / Churchill Gateway Development Corporation Churchill terminal elevator with grain storage bins on each side of a workhouse (June 2018) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Former powerhouse at left for the Churchill terminal elevator (June 2018) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Grain conveyor of the Churchill terminal elevator (June 2018) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N58.77475, W94.19000 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Port Staff House (Polar Bear Honor Street, Churchill)

Churchill Chapter, 1931 by Andrew Taylor
Manitoba History, Number 25, Spring 1993

Sources:

“New Churchill elevator to be huge structure,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 September 1930, page 21.

“Bound for Port Churchill,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 July 1932, page 29.

“Churchill elevator work starts,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1954, page 21.

“Churchill port manager retires after 16 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 December 1954, page 7.

“Churchill manager retires,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 1968, page 76.

“Churchill port manager dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 April 1971, page 41.

“Veteran Churchill port manager Allen Wokes to retire at year’s end,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 December 1972, page 34.

“Winnipeg man named Churchill interim manager,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 February 1977, page 2.

Churchill on Hudson Bay by Angus & Bernice MacIver, 1982, pages 199-200.

“Churchill fears resurface after port manager fired,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 June 1995, page 2.

“Freighter bids Churchill farewell after a couple of days in icy port,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 November 1995, page 11.

Obituary [Bohdan Figurski], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June 2017.

Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by Manitoba Heritage Grant 18F-H49829.

We thank the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation, Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club), Toronto Postcard Club, and Russ Kubara for providing images of the Churchill terminal elevator, and Shelley Batstone for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Christian Cassidy.

Page revised: 10 March 2020

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