Around 1981, this barn in what is now the Municipality of Swan Valley West was featured in a Manitoba Co-operator series on rural buildings. The original caption for the photograph is given below.
Eighty-one long years of service are evident on this rust-stained little barn in northwestern Manitoba. Built in 1901 near Kenville, it was constructed at the same time and by the same owner as a previous building in this series; a two-storey granary of A. J. Cotton. It housed 24 horses within its tidy 30-foot by 60-foot space. Designed by the original owner, the barn literally was later passed down to on, Allan Cotton who had just married and taken his own farm a mile down the road. Three Swedish carpenters accepted the contract to move the barn to its new owner; either by dismantling it board-by-board, or moving the entire structure. They chose to take the barn apart and build it again.
The building is no longer standing, having been demolished in the spring of 2011.
Cotton Barn (circa 1981)
Source: Bob Hainstock
Cotton Barn (2010)
Source: Amy CottonSite Coordinates (lat/long): N52.02547, W101.48011
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Co-operator Rural Buildings Series
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Cotton Granary (Municipality of Swan Valley West)
Memorable Manitobans: Almon James Cotton (1858-1942)
We thank Amy Cotton and Tod Rudge for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Bob Hainstock, Ed Ledohowski, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 13 May 2020
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