Railway Towns
/ Melita
The settlement pattern in Manitoba’s extreme southwest corner followed
the pattern established as settlement moved westward from Winnipeg.
Settlers came, post offices were established, and they all waited for a
railway to enter the district. Small villages and speculative
towns appeared, but none of them decided to build a grist mill.
Why?
It is possible that they had looked at the experiences in Wakopa, and
Deloraine and decided to just wait?
In the meantime they would make the long trek to (Old) Deloraine.
The establishment of the Melita Mill was voted on December 17, 1891,
and first annual meeting of the Melita Milling Co. was held on January
26, 1892.
The building was 36' x 48' in size and was four stories high. The
engine house, also 36' x 48' was a solid structure to be lighted with
electricity and fitted with all modern conveniences.
The Melita Mill
The establishment of the Melita Mill was voted on December 17, 1891,
and first annual meeting of the Melita Milling Co. was held on January
26, 1892
The building was 36' x 48' in size and was four stories high. The
engine house, also 36' x 48' was a solid structure to be lighted with
electricity and fitted with all modern conveniences.
![](imagesTM/MelitaMill.jpg)
The
building was 36' x 48' in size and was four stories high. The
engine house, also 36' x 48' was a solid structure to be lighted with
electricity and fitted with all modern conveniences.
By 1900 the mill adopted a 24 hour
system for a time at least. Mr. Powell engaged a night miller. T.
Bulloch & Son built on an addition to the mill, as flour storage,
(24 x 48 ft) to hold sixteen carloads of flour.
In 1903 the entire plant was sold to Lamont and McDonald. The demand
for Melita flour was great and the mill running day and night the year
around.
The enterprise saw the same ownership changes and problems that other
mills faced, and various efforts to upgrade it and keep it operations.
In 1913 the Melita Flour Mill, being thoroughly overhauled. The
property was taken over by a local stock company, the capital being
subscribed by townspeople and farmers in the district. This was typical
of effort in other communities. Inevitably the mill was shut down
but in this case the infrastructure continued to be used electric power
generation
Napinka Mill
In 1892 the booming town of Napinka offered a $5000 bonus to start a
mill. Someone took the offer, built the mill then skipped town.
(Sun April 26, 1975)
While we
have little information about the Roblin & Armitage mill in
Napinka, we do have this photo from Bridging Brenda.
The Melita Brick Co.
In 1905 Mr. John Dobbyn (80 years of age) discovered a red brick clay
just west of the river and south of today's #3 highway. He purchased
the land (31-3-26) and ordered a modern brick making plant.
The Melita Brick and Tile Co. was formed in April 1905. This consisted
of John Dobbyn and son Richard, Charles D. Lamont and Johnston and Pope
with manager of the brickyard being Richard. Dobbyn.
In June the kiln was being built and great interest was taken in the
result of the first kiln of brick, "fired". The bricks turned out a
pretty shade of red. More than $10,000 had been invested in this
project by July.
In April of 1907, The Melita Brick Co. was making 20,000 bricks a day
under manager D. Morrison. They had delivered a million bricks to
Regina.
![](imagesTM/MelitaBrickAd.jpg)
In 1909 these bricks were sold at Melita Lumber & Manufacturing Co.
The yard closed in about 1910 as the clay bed had run out and the
business had not proven to be a financially successful venture.
However, many houses and buildings in the town and surrounding area
stand today as proof of a very substantial "red brick" that was
manufactured locally.
Lime Kiln
Along the Souris River, near Napinka, stonemason L.J. Phinney operated
a kiln that likely supplied the mortar for the beautiful stone school
that still stands in the village.
Antler River Steel Works
In pioneer farming communities, blacksmiths were indispensible.
Untrained novice farmers could learn to build sod and log houses. They
could learn to plant and reap. They proved up to the task of surviving
in a harsh climate.
But fixing broken machinery was a little more difficult for the
do-it-yourself homesteader. When something broke on the farm, you
needed it now.
Blacksmiths often went far beyond repairs. It seems some of them were
of an inventive, even creative turn of mind, and they just couldn’t
resist making stuff. As we have seen many turned to making buggies.
Others developed other interests.
In 1908 “Captain” Hunt Johnston Rolston Large, a blacksmith from
Coulter, Manitoba, got it into his head that he would build a
steamship.
From 1909 to 1910 the Empress of Ireland, his paddle-wheel
steamship, plied the waters between Napinka, Manitoba (north of Melita)
and Scotia, North Dakota on the Souris River.
The
Empress of Ireland in Coulter, Manitoba – ready to launch in 1909.
Large built his ship mostly out of recycled materials: a dismantled
boxcar and the inside of an old house provided most of the wood he used
in construction. The metal parts of the boat were made by Large himself
in his little workshop, South Antler Steelworks.
In the summer of 1910 the Empress left the Souris River to ply more
lucrative waters: those of the Assiniboine near Brandon. She was
transported by train and used as an excursion boat during the Brandon
Fair. At the end of the summer she was tied down for the winter.
An unfortunate accident caused her to burn down to the ice. All that
was left was a portion of the hull, her two big boilers and the
paddlewheels. Large reinvented her as a coal barge the next spring, but
couldn’t bear to paint the word “Empress” on a barge, so renamed her
the Assiniboine Queen. Severe floods in the spring of 1913 finally sank
the craft.
![](imagesTM/EmpressWheel.jpg)
One of the
vessel’s steel paddlewheels, made by Large’s own hands, rests in
Coulter Park at Sourisford.
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