This one-story brick building at the northwest corner of Dufferin Avenue and Salter Street in Winnipeg, measuring 60 feet by 98 feet, was designed by local architect Max Zev Blankstein and built in 1925 by day labour at a cost of about $9,000 for developer Max Goldberg in conjunction with Phil Jacobson and Isaac Zipursky owners of the Grand Motor Service Company as an automobile repair garage and service station.
Originally known as the Grand Motor Service Company, it was operated by owners Phil Jacobson and Isaac Zipursky and opened officially on 12 December 1925, but it was shortly thereafter renamed the Crosstown Garage. The garage had a large space for auto repair and originally had three gasoline pumps that delivered NevrNox brand gasoline.
The building originally featured large windows along the front and sides and a raised central ceiling with diamond detailing in the brickwork, all of which have since been covered with stucco.
At the time of a 2022 site visit, the building was still being used as an auto repair garage and its name has been shortened to Town Autobody. Formerly on the roof, visible from the Slaw Rebchuk Bridge, was a “ghost sign” reading “Welcome To The North End, People Before Profit”.
Crosstown Garage and Service Station (December 2022)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Crosstown Garage and Service Station (July 2023)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Aerial view of the Crosstown Garage and Service Station (September 2024)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91228, W97.14339
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Max Zev Blankstein (1874-1931)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2517/1925, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Yesterday’s permits,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 September 1925, page 4.
“Building permits exceed 1924 figures,” Winnipeg Tribune, 18 September 1925, page 25.
“Grand Motor Service opens new establishment,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 December 1925, page 30.
“Announcing the opening of a new garage for Grand Motor Service,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 December 1925, page 32.
“Phil Crosstown Garage,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 August 1934, page 17.
“Phil Jacobson’s Crosstown Garage,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 April 1951, page 31.
“Garage helper wanted,” Winnipeg Free Press, 1 September 1952, page 18.
“Bookkeeper wanted,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 August 1956, page 21.
“Truck driver wanted,” Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1957, page 36.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Max Blankstein: Architect by Murray Peterson, Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2022.
We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 29 September 2024
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