farms and waving meadow
was then a lonely stretch of the rich and fertile land of Manitoba.
In 1889 the Northern Pacific railway company extended their road from
Morris to Brandon, and stations were apportioned at various intervals
en route accordingly. Baldur was one of these, and the old routine on
the advent of a railroad through a new dis¬trict followed, first one
store then another until a little community had be¬gan to accumulate.
The scattered settlers whose markets had up to this time been Manitou,
fifty miles distant, and Brandon, a little over the same journey away,
found a home market which gave a natural and consequent impetus to
every June of business. Such is the synopsis of the founding of the
thriving town of Baldur, which is a distributing point for a very large
tract of the finest and richest farming lands in the province of
Manitoba. Its found era could not have selected a more beautiful,
healthier, or central point for the location of the future town which
was to be. Since the railroad was built the growth of the town has been
steady but at the same time rapid.
Every year as the country became more settled a growth in the town was
noticeable. In 1898 a business streak of energy was evinced the town
gaining thereby a third general store, a second lumber yard, a bakery
and a newspaper, and the onward rush continues at the present time. The
activity in mercantile and business circles during the present year
has resulted in the erection of $25,000 worth of building, and
in-dications of a like expenditure next year. It has a population of
lour hundred, has a solid stone and a number of handsome brick
business houses and residences and is most substantial in every
respect. Populated by progressive liberal-minded businessmen
Store and Grounds of P.F. Curtis – Photo by F.
Stevens
the town is making prodigious strides forward, commercially and
financially— its backbone being the unexcelled farming lands in its
immediate vicinity. The business of the community aggregates a
considerable volume during the year, and as the merchants carry larger
and more varied
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stocks than the stores at outside points,
people are induced to come here for trade from a great distance.
Two branches of industry are established including a flour mill and a
planing mill. Baldur is headquarters for the land hunter, here he may
obtain all desired information about the country, and from this point
of the intending settler is within easy reach of any part of the
district. The town is naturally the centre of attraction for the
district. It has the following business houses and other requirements:
4 large general stores, 1 hardware store, 3 fruit and confectionery
stores, 1 butcher shop, 3 general blacksmths, 1 machin¬ist, 1 bake
shop, 1 banking institution, 2 financial and real estate offices, 2
implement agencies 3 bicycle agents, 2 hotels. 2 lumber merchants, 1
furniture and undertaking store, 1 bookbinder, 1 shoe maker,
contractors and builders, 1 newspaper, 2 doctors, 1 veterinary
surgeon, 2 livery and feed stables, 2 sew¬ing machine agents, 1
society hall, 1 private school, 3 elevators, 1 grist mill, municipal
offices, 1 constable, 2 justices of the peace, 1 piano and organ
agent, 2 churches and a skating and curling rink.
The following secret societies are re¬presented in Baldur, and each
have a good membership: Black Preceptory, Loyal Orange Lodge,
Independent Order of Oddfellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and
Knights of the Maccabees. Baldur has one of the best farmers' markets
to be found anywhere and as a consequence it is an im¬portant trading
centre.
Winnipeg Elevator, Dominion Elevator, Roller
Mill, Rink, Northern
Elevator
ELEVATORS AND CAPACITY.
There are three grain elevators in Baldur, viz., the Northern Elevator
capacity 15,000 bushels; Dominion Elevator, capacity 35,000 bushels,
and the Winnipeg Elevator, capacity 28,000 bushels, making a total
capacity of nearly 80,000 bushels. These are always represented by
responsible men, who generally commence buying the beginning of
September, and continue on the market till the last months of winter.
In the summer buyers go through the country buying up surplus supplies,
so in this way every convenience and facility for the disposition of
his grain in afforded to the
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