Link to:
Port Managers | Shipping Statistics | Photos & Coordinates | Sources
The Hudson Bay Railway arrived at Churchill in March 1929. One of the first priorities for construction was a terminal elevator for shipping grain to overseas markets. Designed by C. D. Howe & Company of Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) and erected by the Winnipeg firm of Carter Halls Aldinger for the Canadian government between 1930 and 1931, a four-belt conveyor for loading up to four ships at once, at 20,000 bushels per hour, was completed in 1932. Electricity to operate the facility was generated in a coal-fueled powerhouse next to the elevator, and a building next to the workhouse contained administrative offices, a millwright shop, a staff dining room and rest rooms, and quarters for an inspection department. When completed, the 2,500,000-bushel elevator was the second-largest of its kind in the world. The 56 bins at its north (right) end, added between 1954 and 1955, doubled its capacity.
Period
Port Manager
?-1937
W. Meadows
1938-1954
William N. “Bill” Twolan
1955-1968
H. M. “Slim” Wilson (c1912-?)
1968-1971
George Brennan (?-1971)
1971-1972
Allen Wokes
1973-1976
Earl H. Scharf
1977-1988
Bohdan “Don” Figurski (1932-2017)
1988-1995
Alan Johnson
1995-?
Niels Rasmussen
Year
Date
First Ship
No. Ships
Total Grain
1929
11 October
SS Ungava Queen
1
?
1930
none
0
0
1931
10 September
SS Farnworth
2
14.8
1932
14 August
SSG Sirentz
10
74.5
1933
13 August
SSG Pennyworth
10
73.7
1934
13 August
SSG Dalworth
15
110.3
1935
14 August
SSG Wentworth
8
65.5
1936
9 August
SS Firby
15
116.9
1937
7 August
SSG Jean LD
2
16.4
1938
25 September
SSG Daleby
3
25.0
1939
12 August
SS Wentworth
6
48.2
1940
none
0
0
1941
none
0
0
1942
none
0
0
1943
25 August
SS Tintagel
1
20.1
1944
none
0
0
1945
none
0
0
1946
10 August
SS Mount Revelstoke
9
79.7
1947
8 August
SS Essex Trader
16
135.4
1948
8 August
SS Great City
15
144.9
1949
8 August
SS Akcyibe Firtybe
16
150.4
1950
31 July
MV Tricape
20
184.2
1951
4 August
SS Warkworth
21
198.1
1952
30 July
SS Warkworth
26
233.6
1953
26 July
SS Warkworth
31
293.5
1954
29 July
MV Anna C
36
339.8
1955
1 August
SS Warkworth
38
355.9
1956
27 July
SS Warkworth
48
442.2
1957
31 July
MV Nordmeer
46
451.1
1958
26 July
MV Richard de Larrinaga
55
533.4
1959
27 July
MV North Devon
58
592.9
1960
27 July
MV Margit Brovig
48
532.9
1961
22 July
SS Gull
48
526.6
1962
27 July
SS Zinnia
49
585.8
1963
27 July
SS Uskok
48
622.3
1964
1 August
SS Warkworth
41
589.1
1965
27 July
MV Trevaylor
45
672.4
1966
26 July
SS Warkworth
40
593.8
1967
23 July
SS Warkworth
33
561.7
1968
26 July
SS Silkworth
34
612.8
1969
23 July
SS Slesvig
29
595.3
1970
31 July
SS Warkworth
35
669.9
1971
7 August
MV Tamworth
37
666.9
1972
5 August
SS Panagos D. Pateros
30
635.8
1973
7 August
MV Tamworth
?
462.0
1974
14 August
SS Atlantic Champion
20
498.0
1975
20 August
MV Carlotta F
21
494.4
1976
1 August
MV Letchworth
27
719.1
1977
24 July
MV Naworth
34
755.2
1978
1 August
MV Fotini
20
542.7
1979
14 August
MV Nikko Maru
20
536.5
1980
11 August
MV Irini GF
12
289.8
1981
11 August
MV Studzianki
?
?
1982
6 August
SS Bandar Demta
?
?
1983
8 August
SS Paulina C
?
?
1984
1 August
MV Hampton Lion
?
?
1985
3 August
MV Sealink
?
?
1986
29 July
MV Mijdrecht
?
?
1987
8 August
MV Dmitrovsky Komsomol
?
?
1988
5 October
MV Stena Arctica
?
?
1989
25 August
MV Ethnos
?
?
1990
27 July
MV Kristjan Palusalu
?
?
1991
12 August
MV Powstaniec Listopadowy
?
?
1992
21 August
MV Franciskos CK
?
?
1993
21 July
MT Turid Knutsen
?
?
1994
22 August
MV Belle
?
?
1995
30 July
MV Gorlitz
?
?
1996
4 August
MV Cargo Trader
?
?
1997
29 July
MV Theotoko
?
?
1998
13 July
MT Nathalie Sif
?
?
1999
24 July
MV Akademic Ioffe
?
?
2000
11 July
MV Federal Rhine
?
?
2001
23 July
MV Zodio
?
?
2002
29 July
MV Semiramis
?
?
2003
26 July
MV Goviken
?
?
2004
29 July
MV Oriental
?
?
2005
29 July
MV Federal Polaris
?
?
2006
14 August
MV DS Vanguard
?
?
2007
21 July
MV Patent
?
?
2008
4 August
MV Dimitris
?
?
2009
12 August
MV Hamburg Pearl
?
?
2010
28 July
MV Federal Danube
?
?
2011
4 August
MV Pacific Bulker
?
?
2012
10 August
MV Puffin
?
?
2013
5 August
MV Atlantic Dream
?
?
2014
4 August
MV Ikan Suji
?
?
2015
6 September
MV Clipper Bettina
?
?
2016
?
?
?
?
2017
none
0
0
2018
none
0
0
Churchill terminal elevator under construction (circa 1931)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2016-0229
Churchill terminal elevator with newer storage bins in the foreground, workhouse in the centre, older storage bins in the background, adjacent to the powerhouse (late 1950s)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2016-0001
Churchill Terminal Elevator (no date)
Source: Toronto Postcard Club, LGG2016-0082
Ships loading at the Churchill Terminal Elevator (October 2009)
Source: Mike Macri / Churchill Gateway Development Corporation
Churchill terminal elevator with grain storage bins on each side of a workhouse (June 2018)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Former powerhouse at left for the Churchill terminal elevator (June 2018)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough
Grain conveyor of the Churchill terminal elevator (June 2018)
Source: Gordon GoldsboroughSite Coordinates (lat/long): N58.77475, W94.19000
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Port Staff House (Polar Bear Honor Street, Churchill)
Churchill Chapter, 1931 by Andrew Taylor
Manitoba History, Number 25, Spring 1993
“New Churchill elevator to be huge structure,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 September 1930, page 21.
“Bound for Port Churchill,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 July 1932, page 29.
“Churchill elevator work starts,” Winnipeg Free Press, 11 September 1954, page 21.
“Churchill port manager retires after 16 years,” Winnipeg Free Press, 13 December 1954, page 7.
“Churchill manager retires,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 1968, page 76.
“Churchill port manager dies,” Winnipeg Free Press, 20 April 1971, page 41.
“Veteran Churchill port manager Allen Wokes to retire at year’s end,” Winnipeg Free Press, 23 December 1972, page 34.
“Winnipeg man named Churchill interim manager,” Winnipeg Free Press, 18 February 1977, page 2.
Churchill on Hudson Bay by Angus & Bernice MacIver, 1982, pages 199-200.
“Churchill fears resurface after port manager fired,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 June 1995, page 2.
“Freighter bids Churchill farewell after a couple of days in icy port,” Winnipeg Free Press, 29 November 1995, page 11.
Obituary [Bohdan Figurski], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June 2017.
Financial support for research reported on this page was provided by Manitoba Heritage Grant 18F-H49829.
We thank the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation, Jason Vanderhill (Vancouver Postcard Club), Toronto Postcard Club, and Russ Kubara for providing images of the Churchill terminal elevator, and Shelley Batstone for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Christian Cassidy.
Page revised: 10 March 2020
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