Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator A / Private Grain Elevator (McConnell, Municipality of Hamiota)

Link to:
Agents / Buyers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

The first grain elevator in McConnell, on the CNR Rapid City Subdivision in what is now the Municipality of Hamiota, was built by businessman J. H. McConnell and sold to the Canadian Elevator Company. Between 1926 and 1927, its operation was taken over by McConnell Cooperative Elevator Association, affiliated with Manitoba Pool Elevators, with an executive committee consisting of A. C. Little (President), T. J. Caves (Vice-President), George N. McConnell (Secretary), C. C. Brown (Director), C. Watt (Director), W. J. Pollock (Director), and C. E. Winstone (Director). In 1928, the old elevator was demolished and a new “Pool A” building was constructed on the same site. A balloon annex was built beside the elevator in 1940.

Major renovations to the elevator were made in 1968, at a cost of $45,000, involving construction of a new driveway and office, and installation of a forty-ton scale. The final grain delivery to the elevators occurred on 16 December 1978, the same day as the final train passed through the village, as the railway line was abandoned. The tracks were removed in May 1979 and the elevators were sold to a local farmer. The CNR station building was moved to the Hamiota Pioneer Club Museum.

Agents / Buyers

Period	Agent / Buyer
1928-1958	Jesse Charles Richardson (1892-1980)
1958-1973	M. A. Hamilton
1973-1975	Darwin W. Hamilton
1975-1975	Donald J. Brown
1975-1978	Fermin Desrochers

Photos & Coordinates

McConnell railway station (now at the Hamiota Pioneer Club Museum) with Manitoba Pool A at right and Pool B at left (August 1983) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Grain Elevator Inventory, slide 2096 Manitoba Pool grain elevators at McConnell (September 2021) Source: George Penner The former Manitoba Pool A grain elevator at McConnell (July 2016) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Manitoba Pool A grain elevator at McConnell (July 2016) Source: Gordon Goldsborough The former Manitoba Pool A grain elevator at McConnell (July 2016) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.26688, W100.52796 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bawlf Grain Elevator / Alberta Pacific Grain Elevator / Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator B (McConnell, Municipality of Hamiota)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Hamiota Pioneer Club Museum (Hamiota, Municipality of Hamiota)

Sources:

McConnell: Little Town Lost by McConnell Women’s Institute and History Committee, 1979.

Manitoba Pool Fonds, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

We thank Jean McManus and George Penner for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 1 October 2021

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