This one-storey building in Roblin, in the Municipality of Roblin, was built between 1933 and 1934 by A. G. P. Smellie of the Russell-based Smellie Brothers’ Creameries Limited, one of its six creameries in western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. Designed and managed by George Kelso, known as the “King Champion Buttermaker” of Canada, it housed the Roblin Creamery where cream delivered by local farmers was turned into butter. In 1960, the facility was sold to the Manitoba Dairy and Poultry Co-op, later known as the Manco Dairy Co-operative. An egg-trading operation with combined with the creamery function for several years before being discontinued. The creamery closed in 1992 and the building was used for a period as a cream delivery depot. It was used as a workshop at the time of a 2019 site visit.
Roblin Creamery Building (no date)
Source: Shell River Municipality Century One: 1884-1984, Volume 1 by Roblin History Book Committee, 1986, page 79.
The former Roblin Creamery Building (August 2019)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N51.23037, W101.35983
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Albert Gale Parker Smellie (1862-1936)
Memorable Manitobans: George Kelso (1898-1983)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba
Shell River Municipality Century One: 1884-1984, Volume 1 by Roblin History Book Committee, 1986, page 79.
Shell River Municipality Century One: 1884-1984, Volume 2 by Roblin History Book Committee, 1986, page 777.
Obituary [George Kelso], Winnipeg Free Press, 26 May 1983, page 35.
“Manco Foods closes Roblin butter plant,” Roblin Review, 28 April 1992, page 1.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
We thank Ken Jakeman for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 2 October 2019
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