Manitoba Business: McCabe Elevator Company / McCabe Brothers Grain Company / McCabe Grain Company

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Chairmen | Presidents | Vice-Presidents | Country Elevators | Sources

This company was founded in 1889 by brothers W. J. McCabe and George McCabe, operating a grain and lumber business at Glasston, Dakota Territory (now North Dakota). They acquired a line of country elevators and, in 1896, moved to Duluth, Minnesota. In the early 20th century, when James J. Hill began to build an extension of the Great Northern Railroad into Canada, the McCabes built grain elevator along its right-of-way in Canada and formed the McCabe Elevator Company to operate them.

By 1912, the firm had 24 elevators in Canada and it organized the Victoria Elevator Company in 1916 and the Crescent Elevator Company in 1922. All companies were merged to form the McCabe Brothers Grain Company in 1928. It became the publicly-traded McCabe Grain Company in 1946. Its feed and seed assets were sold to National Grain in 1967 and 68 of its country elevators were sold to United Grain Growers in 1968. The remaining McCabe assets were merged to form National Grain Limited in 1971.

Chairmen

Period	Chairman
1946-1952	Ben C. McCabe
1952-1954	Carl Eugene Austin (c1882-1954)
1954-1967	?

Presidents

Period	President
1928-1933	W. J. McCabe (c1863-1933)
1933-1945	?
1945-1952	Carl Eugene Austin (c1882-1954)
1952-1968	Charles Kroft (1906-1984)

Vice-Presidents

Period	Vice-President
1928-?	George McCabe
?-1946	?
1946-1952	Charles Kroft (1906-1984)

General Managers

Period	General Manager
c1915-1946	Carl Eugene Austin (c1882-1954)

Country Elevators

Location	Rail	Opened	Closed	Capacity (bushels)	Annex (bushels)	Comments
Alcester	GNR	1908	1935	25,000
Bannerman	GNR	1908	1936	30,000
Bergman	GNR	1908	1926	25,000
Boissevain	GNR	1908	1967	28,000	40,000	Sold to UGG (1968)
Bradburn	GNR	1908	1926	25,000
Brandon	CPR	1937	1970	40,000
Bunclody	GNR	1908	1936	30,000
Carman	GNR	1908	1956	30,000
Carroll	CPR	1936	1967	20,000	30,000	Agent: George Bartley (?)
Desford	GNR	1908	1936	30,000
Dunn	GNR	1908	1925	30,000
Ebor	CPR	1929	1929	25,000
Fairburn	GNR	1908	1936	25,000
Fairfax	CNR	1935	1967	35,000	50,000	Sold to UGG (1968)
Fort Whyte	CPR	1957	1968	75,000		Manager: Bert Lytle (?), sold to UGG (1968)
Foxwarren	CPR	1929	1937	30,000
Glencross	GNR	1908	1937	23,000
Graham	CPR	1908	1935	23,000
Gretna	GNR	1908	1966	25,000
Griffin	GNR	1908	1935	23,000
Haskett	GNR	1908	1938	23,000
Hayfield	GNR	1908	1936	23,000
Heaslip	GNR	1908	1936	35,000
Holland	CPR	1929	1947	35,000
Kronsgart	CPR	1908	1946	25,000
Magnus	GNR	1908	1926	25,000
Manitou	CPR	1929	1967	52,000
McKelvie	GNR	1908	1935	26,000		Moved to Newstead Siding (1936)
Minmar	CNR	1929	1946	32,000
Minto	CNR	1908	1968	83,000	30,000	Sold to UGG (1968)
Morden	CPR	1908	1968	70,000	30,000	Agent: Jake Hoeppner (?), sold to UGG (1968)
Newstead	CPR	1936	1968	54,000	25,000	Agent: Jake Unrau (?), sold to UGG (1968)
Orthez	CPR	1936	1964	28,000
Plum Coulee	CPR	1908	1968	100,100	30,000	Sold to UGG (1968)
Portage la Prairie	CNR	1938	1968	158,800	30,000	Sold to UGG (1968)
Reston	CPR	1929	1942	30,000
Roland	GNR	1908	1936	26,000
Roseland	GNR	1908	1936	26,000
Ste. Anne	CNR	1937	1968	55,000		Sold to UGG (1968)
St. Boniface (542 Plinquet)	CPR	1930	?	30,000		Elevator and feed plant
St. Boniface (627 Plinquet)	CNR	c1950	?	40,000		Elevator, seed cleaning plant, bagged seed warehouse
St. Boniface (600 Archibald)	?	c1935	?	40,000		Elevator and flour mill
Souris	CPR	1938	1968	250,000		Agent: Doug Armour (?), sold to UGG (March 1968)
Winnipeg Beach	CPR	1937	1968	55,000	30,000	Sold to UGG (1968)

Sources:

“W. J. McCabe, leading grain man, dies at Duluth, Minn.,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 February 1933, page 6.

“C. E. Austin is elected President of company,” Winnipeg Free Press, 10 October 1945, page 15.

“McCabe Grain directors elected at annual meet,” Winnipeg Free Press, 21 October 1950, page 28.

“Elevator sale confirmed,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 February 1968, page 53.

Grain: The Entrepreneurs by Charles W. Anderson, Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1991.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and William J. Neal.

Page revised: 13 April 2025