A five-storey brick and stone building at the northeast corner of McDermot Avenue and Lydia Street [no longer a public road], in Winnipeg, measuring 65 feet by 122 feet, was designed by local architect John Hamilton Gordon Russell and built in 1910 at a cost of about $45,000 as a warehouse for the wholesale dry goods business of Stobart, Sons & Company.
The Stobart, Sons & Company leased part of the building to the Union Overall Company but the venture did not prosper and it folded during the First World War. The company’s assets were bought by Benjamin Jacob and John Henry Crowley and it was rebranded as Jacob Crowley Cloakmakers, later Montreal Cloak, which lasted at this location for just a few years. In 1922, the building was occupied by the Western Paper Box Company that continued here until around 2019.
In July 2024, as the building was being renovated into a residential block, its foundation failed and the exterior walls started to bow outward. It is expected to be demolished.
Union Overall Warehouse (1915)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 25 September 1915, page 39.
The former Western Paper Box Warehouse (October 2022)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
Aerial view of the former Western Paper Box Warehouse (July 2024)
Source: George Penner
Aerial view of the former Western Paper Box Warehouse (July 2024)
Source: George PennerSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90163, W97.15418
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: John Hamilton Gordon Russell (1863-1946)
Memorable Manitobans: Frederick William Stobart (1859-1935)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Stobart Building / Bedford Building (281 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg)
Memorable Manitobans: Benjamin “Ben” Jacob (1891-1975)
Memorable Manitobans: John Henry Crowley (1888-1963)
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 2198/1910, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Big warehouse to be built on McDermot,” Manitoba Free Press, 11 August 1910, page 11.
“Five storey factory for the Union Overall Co.,” Winnipeg Tribune, 25 September 1915, page 39.
“Neighbours forced out as bricks fall from five-storey building,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 July 2024.
“Farewell, Union Overall Co. building” by Christian Cassidy, West End Dumplings, 12 July 2024.
We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Christian Cassidy.
Page revised: 23 July 2024
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