This two-storey brick building at the corner of Portage Avenue and St. James Street in Winnipeg was built by the Winnipeg Electric Railway Company in 1909 to serve as a local substation for its streetcar line between Winnipeg and St. James.
Originally a single storey structure, by 1928 it had been lengthened along St. James Street and raised with a second storey. Operation of the substation was eventually taken over by the Manitoba Power Commission, predecessor of Manitoba Hydro. Doors and windows on the east and south sides of the original building have been bricked and painted over with a large mural.
The former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (no date)
Source: Manitoba Hydro
The former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (1931)
Source: Manitoba Hydro
Interior of the former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (1931)
Source: Manitoba Hydro
The former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (June 2022)
Source: George Penner
The former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (June 2022)
Source: George Penner
The former Winnipeg Electric Company St. James Substation (February 2023)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.88035, W97.20197
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Winnipeg Electric Railway Company / Winnipeg Electric Company
“St. Charles,” Manitoba Free Press, 23 October 1909, page 7.
Western Canada Fire Underwriters Association, H7 614.41 edc Series 2 - St. James / Assiniboia - 1914, Sheet #15, Archives of Manitoba.
Henderson’s Winnipeg and Brandon Directories, Henderson Directories Limited, Peel’s Prairie Provinces, University of Alberta Libraries.
We thank Bruce Owen (Manitoba Hydro) for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk, Nathan Kramer, George Penner, and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 21 March 2023
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