This small wooden building on Broadway Street South in Crystal City houses Manitoba’s oldest printshop and it contains one of the province’s finest collections of working, early printing equipment. The printshop was constructed in 1881 by Thomas Greenway, founder of Crystal City and Premier of Manitoba (1888-1900). Modest false-fronted commercial structures such as this one were typically among the first to be constructed in newly established prairie towns. This example has survived largely intact although it was originally situated over a mile away, at the former site of Crystal City, and was moved here beside the railway in the mid-1880s.
The first issue of the weekly Rock Lake Herald was published in this building on 1 September 1881. The newspaper was succeeded in 1898 by the long-running Crystal City Courier. Such local newspapers were often the main source of news and information for the community, and played a significant role in the early social, cultural, and political development of rural Manitoba. In 1952, the newspaper merged with the Pilot Mound Sentinel.
In 1991, the printshop was purchased by a community group, designated as a municipal heritage building, and developed as a working museum. A commemorative plaque was placed on the building by the Manitoba Heritage Council on 26 June 1995. As of 2010, the museum is closed but visits can be arranged by appointment.
Crystal City Printing Museum (October 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Crystal City Printing Museum (August 2018)
Source: George Penner
Equipment inside the Crystal City Printing Museum (August 2007)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.14522, W98.95046
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Provincially Designated Historic Sites
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Historic Sites Advisory Board of Manitoba / Manitoba Heritage Council
Courier Publishing Company Building, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch.
Courier Publishing Company Building, Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques.
Manitoba Heritage Council Commemorative Plaques and Manitoba Community Commemorative Plaques, Fiscal Year 1995-1996, Historic Resources Branch, 1996.
We thank George Penner and Mike Webber for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 30 May 2025
Historic Sites of Manitoba
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