A large brick and stone building, at the southwest corner of Corydon and Daly Street (formerly John Street) in Winnipeg, was constructed in three phases.
The first phase was designed by architect Samuel Hooper and built between 1907 and 1908, at a cost of about $35,000, for the Bell Telephone Company. The firm’s infrastructure in Manitoba was purchased the following year by Manitoba Government Telephones (later Manitoba Telephone System) and the building opened in 1909. Alterations to the building in 1922 were designed by John Hamilton Gordon Russell. Originally a two-storey building, a third storey was added in 1929 due to increased demand, at a cost of about $15,000.
Between 1948 and 1950, a Tyndall stone-clad second phase, designed by corporate architect Robert Bryan Ross, was constructed on the west side of the original building. It housed circuitry for the first automatic telephone switching equipment in North America. Expansion in 1955 was also designed by Ross.
The third phase on the extreme west end, designed by the architectural firm of Pratt Lindgren and Associates, was constructed between 1963 and 1964 by the firm of Wallace and Aikins.
Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building (1912)
Source: Archives of Manitoba, Manitoba Telephone System Collection
Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building (July 2022)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building (February 2023)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Addition to the Fort Rouge Telephone Exchange Building made between 1948 and 1950 (June 2021)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.87217, W97.14874
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)
Memorable Manitobans: John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)
Memorable Manitobans: Robert Bryan Ross (1908-1983)
Manitoba Business: Pratt Lindgren and Associates / Pratt Lindgren Snider Tomcej and Associates
MHS Centennial Business: Manitoba Government Telephones / Manitoba Telephone System / MTS Allstream / Bell MTS
“Fort Rouge exchange,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 February 1909, page 7.
“Tenders - Addition to the Fort Rouge Telephone Building,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 February 1963, page 33.
“Jottings from the business world,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 March 1963, page 58.
Fort Rouge Through the Years, Souvenir Booklet, 1974 by Fort Rouge Centennial Sports Committee, 1974, page 32.
634 Corydon Avenue, Winnipeg Architecture Foundation.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk, George Penner, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 12 August 2023
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