A two-storey brick building at the northeast corner of Gunnell Street between Henry and Higgins Avenues, adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Railway yards, in Winnipeg, measuring 40 feet by 140 feet, was designed by local architect Samuel Hooper and built between late 1910 and mid-1911 by contractor Daniel David Wood as a warehouse for the Manitoba Government Telephones (later Manitoba Telephone System) at a cost of about $40,000.
Telephone equipment coming into Winnipeg or being shipped out to towns around rural Manitoba would be loaded onto boxcars via a spur line off the railway yards on the north side of the building.
Following a decision in 1952 to declare the warehouse, along with the Garry Telephone Exchange Building, and the Manitoba Government Telephones Garage surplus, it was sold and became occupied by a variety of other businesses. Later used as a fur auction warehouse, at the time of a 2024 site visit, the former warehouse was vacant.
Fire insurance map showing Manitoba Government Telephones Warehouse (May 1914)
Source: Winnipeg Fire Insurance Map #67, Library and Archives Canada.
West view of the former Manitoba Government Telephones Warehouse (January 2024)
Source: Jordan Makichuk
North view of the former Manitoba Government Telephones Warehouse (January 2024)
Source: Jordan MakichukSite Coordinates (lat/long): N49.90845, W97.14863
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Memorable Manitobans: Samuel Hooper (1851-1911)
Memorable Manitobans: Daniel David Wood (1859-1925)
MHS Centennial Business: Manitoba Government Telephones / Manitoba Telephone System / MTS Allstream / Bell MTS
City of Winnipeg Building Permit 3257/1910, City of Winnipeg Archives.
“Building permits. Nearly $100,000 in list assured last week,” Manitoba Free Press, 12 December 1910, page 24.
Winnipeg Fire Insurance Map #67, August 1906 Revised May 1914, Library and Archives Canada.
“Notice; Sale of valuable commercial warehouse and garage property,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 September 1952, page 26.
This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk.
Page revised: 23 April 2024
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