A wooden grain elevator at NE13-1-5W in the Rural Municipality of Stanley was built in 1943 as a seed-cleaning plant for the family of George G. Elias (1914-2012) and Martha Doerksen Elias (1921-2001), on the former site of the Eichenfeld German School. A crew of 16 men built the state-of-the-art facility crib structure, which could process up to 1,000 bushels of grain each day, using 2x6 timbers at a cost of about $8,000. In 1946, the Elias’ barley won first prize at the Royal Winter Fair in Brandon and, later that year, captured first prize in a national contest sponsored by the newly-formed Barley Improvement Institute of Canada. It won the national award again in 1950 and George Elias was proclaimed the “Barley King” of Manitoba. An active member of the Canadian Seed Growers Association for over 65 years, he continued to sell certified seed throughout Canada until retirement in 2000. The elevator was moved to the Pembina Threshermen’s Museum in February 2015 where it houses grain-milling demonstrations and a display of Elias family history.
Elias family grain elevator (May 2005)
Source: Ken Jacobs
Elias family grain elevator (July 2014)
Source: Jean McManusSite Location (lat/long): N49.04457, W97.99876
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Pembina Threshermen’s Museum / Canadian Pacific Railway Station (RM of Stanley)
“Brewers urge Barley Institute,” Winnipeg Tribune, 21 February 1947, page 30.
“Manitoban, Barley King wins $1,300 – tax free,” Winnipeg Free Press, 2 April 1951, page 8.
“Former $1,000 barley winners barred in 1951,” Rossburn Review, 20 June 1951, page 2.
Elevator - 1945, Pembina Threshermens Museum.
Obituary [Martha A. Elias], Winnipeg Free Press, 29 November 2001.
Obituary [George G. Elias], Winnipeg Free Press, 21 August 2012.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough, Jean McManus, and Ken Jacobs.
Page revised: 13 May 2019
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