Link to:
Agents / Buyers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
A grain elevator at Helston, in what is now the Municipality of Glenella-Lansdowne, was built in 1905 by the Western Canada Flour Mills on the Muir-Helston Branch of the Canadian Northern Railway. In May 1940, the building was sold to Manitoba Pool Elevators for $5,000 and, in August 1940, re-sold for $6,650 to farmers belonging to the Helson Co-operative Elevator Association No. 160. The original structure, capable of holding 25,000 bushels of grain, was demolished during the summer of 1946 and replaced with the present 40,000-bushel structure. By the mid-1950s, the elevator was full before the entire crop had been delivered so plans were made to construct a 54,000-bushel crib annex during the winter of 1956-1957. During the 1974-1975 crop year, the facility handled 209,632 bushels.
The elevator closed in December 1978 when the adjacent railway line was abandoned. It was used for a time to store corn. By the time of a 2012 site visit, the building stood vacant and open to the elements. The road to it was heavily overgrown so it was only accessible by foot. As of 2021, the site is reportedly being used as a private residence.
Period
Agent / Buyer
1905-1927
?
1927-1962
Grover Lobb (1893-1965)
1962-1973
W. George Gardiner
1973
Clare Galoway
1974-1975
Harry Wiebe
1975-1977
Keith R. Wallace
1977
Robert Voth
1977-1978
Kenneth Bird
The former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Helston (September 2001)
Source: Mike Lisowski
The former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Helston (July 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
The former Manitoba Pool grain elevator and annex at Helston (August 2014)
Source: Jean McManus
Interior of the former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Helston (July 2012)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Aerial view of the former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Helston (February 2021)
Source: George Penner
Helston Grain Elevator (April 2021)
Source: Rose KuzinaSite Coordinates (lat/long): N50.13216, W99.11679
denoted by symbol on the map above
Obituary [Grover Lobb], Winnipeg Free Press, 30 January 1965, page 32.
Legacies of Lansdowne: A Sequel by RM of Lansdowne History Committee, 1984, page 48. [Legislative Library of Manitoba, F5648.L36 Leg]
Helston Cooperative Elevator Association, Manitoba Pool Elevators Fonds, RG 4, S. J. McKee Archives.
We thank Mike Lisowski, Jean McManus, Rose Kuzina, and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 13 January 2022
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