In early 1931, the Smith Agency Limited, a local insurance service that had become an experienced property manager, proceeded with construction of the 37-unit Raleigh Apartments on Vaughan Street between Webb Place and Ellice Avenue. The 70 feet by 130 feet, three-storey structure was designed by architect James William Hawker and built by contractor James Murray Reid and the Benjaminson Construction Company at a cost of about $100,000. Apartments had one, two, three, or four rooms and all featured electric refrigerators and ranges.
Firms that participated in the building’s construction were the Arctic Ice and Fuel Company (refrigerators), Winnipeg Electric Company (ranges), Vulcan Iron Works (boilers), Canadian Roger Sheet Metal and Roofing (roofing and tinwork), McDonald Dure Lumber Company (lumber), Tyndall Quarry Company (Tyndall stone), Winnipeg Paint and Glass Company (tile and hardware), T. Eaton Company (blinds, linoleum, electric fixtures), Bowyer-Boag Limited (plumbing and heating), Thomas Jackson and Sons (sand, gravel, and cement), R. Sigurdson (brick and stonework), and Sibbald Electric Company (electric wiring).
Smith Agency retained title to the building until the mid-1980s when it was expropriated by the government and turned over to the North Portage Development Corporation.
The building is a municipally-designated historic site.
Raleigh Apartments (June 2011)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Raleigh Apartments (August 2019)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.89321, W97.15075
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: James William Hawker (1870-1941)
Memorable Manitobans: James Murray Reid (1882-1933)
Manitoba Business: Benjaminson Construction Company
Memorable Manitobans: Benjamin Billingsley Smith (1881-1975)
Manitoba Business: Smith Agency Limited
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Municipally Designated Historic Sites
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 205/1931, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“The Raleigh,” Manitoba Free Press, 31 August 1931, page 7.
“Early Icelandic builders in Winnipeg” by S. Aleck Thorarinson, Logberg Heimskringla, 30 March 1967, page 7.
Raleigh Apartments (340 Vaughan Street), City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings Committee, January 1997.
We thank Jordan Makichuk for providing additional information used here.
Preparation of this page was supported, in part, by the Gail Parvin Hammerquist Fund of the City of Winnipeg.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough, Nathan Kramer, and George Penner.
Page revised: 5 July 2024
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