This two-storey, red-brown brick and Tyndall stone trimmed building at the corner of Main Street and Selkirk Avenue in Winnipeg, measuring 25 feet by 65 feet, was designed by local architect William Wallace Blair. It was built in 1905 by the construction firm of J. McDiarmid and Company at a cost of $3,500 as a branch of the Northern Bank (later known as Northern Crown Bank). It originally featured a banking hall on the main floor while the second floor housed offices accessible from a door along Selkirk Avenue.
In 1918, when the bank merged with the Royal Bank of Canada, architect John Hamilton Gordon Russell was commissioned to design renovations that were completed by contractors Aaron Grey and Davidson at a cost of about $17,000, which turned it into a branch of the new bank. Additional repairs, also designed by Russell, were completed by contractors Grey and Davidson at a cost of about $500.
Later vacated by the bank for new premises elsewhere, the building was being used as a medical clinic at the time of a 2025 site visit.
Former Northern Crown Bank Building (1948)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Former Northern Crown Bank Building (March 2018)
Source: Kerrin Asmundson
Former Northern Crown Bank Building (April 2021)
Source: George Penner
Former Northern Crown Bank Building (July 2025)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.91194, W97.13294
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: William Wallace Blair (1852-1916)
Memorable Manitobans: James McDiarmid (1855-1934)
Manitoba Business: Northern Crown Bank
Manitoba Business: Royal Bank of Canada
Memorable Manitobans: John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)
Memorable Manitobans: Aaron Grey (1865-1962)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 3315/1905, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 883/1918, City of Winnipeg Archives.
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 884/1918, City of Winnipeg Archives.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
Winnipeg fire insurance map, #273 May 1956, City of Winnipeg Archives.
We thank Kerrin Asmundson and George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 11 October 2025
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