Historic Sites of Manitoba: Canadian Bank of Commerce Building / Hamilton Court (48 Fourth Avenue SW, Carman)

Erected in 1907, this former bank building at Carman is a rare surviving example in Manitoba of a standardized bank-building design used by the Canadian Bank of Commerce for almost 70 of its small urban operations across western Canada. These standardized bank designs were developed in Toronto by Darling and Pearson, a major Canadian architectural firm, and prefabricated by the BC Mills Timber and Trading Company in Vancouver, who shipped the materials to the site. Such a pre-fab building could go up in just one day.

The two-storey wooden building has an elegant Classical Revival-style architecture, primarily on its main façade. The interior featured fittings in mahogany shades, finely polished with a handsome glass screen in front of the teller’s cage. The walls were tinted in green, forming a nice harmony with the fittings, while the manager’s office was finished in BC grown wood. The large vault in the rear of the building was considered to be absolutely fire- and burglar-proof.

Since its closure, the bank has served as a Masonic Lodge and is now an apartment block called Hamilton Court.

Former Canadian Bank of Commerce Building at Carman (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Former Canadian Bank of Commerce Building at Carman (September 2022) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.50195, W98.00395 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Manitoba Business: Canadian Bank of Commerce

Sources:

“The New Bank of Commerce,” Dufferin Leader, 14 November 1907, page 1. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

“Bank of Commerce (Carman, Manitoba)," Winnipeg Morning Telegram. 5 December 1907, page 16. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

“Temples of Finance: Canada’s Chartered Banks and Their Monumental Buildings,” David Spector, unpublished manuscript, 2019.

Certificate Sites, Carman/Dufferin Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee.

We thank George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Rose Kuzina.

Page revised: 29 October 2022

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