Grain Elevators of Canada

Elkhorn

The Elkhorn grain elevator
The Elkhorn grain elevator

The Elkhorn grain elevator is located on the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline. This elevator consists of a central elevator with an integrated annex on one side, and has a capacity of 3,190 tonnes. Construction on this elevator began in June 1965.

Elkhorn "B" elevator
Elkhorn “B” elevator

Elkhorn is a small community near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border. The trans-continental Canadian Pacific Railway tracks reached Elkhorn sometime between mid-April and late June 1882 on their march west toward British Columbia. Today this section of track is part of the CP Broadview subdivision.

This elevator is a former Manitoba Pool grain elevator and was the “B” elevator.

Large wooden grain elevator
Elkhorn “B” grain elevator, June 1994. Copyright by Donald Hamilton.

Elkhorn Train Station

Elkhorn train station
Elkhorn train station

Elkhorn’s railway station was built in 1904 to a fairly typical CPR design.

It was sold on January 18, 1972 and later demolished. (Photo by G.A. Moore, from Canadian Rail #285)

Other Elkhorn Grain Elevators

Lake of the Woods grain elevator in Elkhorn, MB
Lake of the Woods grain elevator in Elkhorn, MB

Elkhorn’s Manitoba Pool “C” elevator was a former Lake of the Woods elevator, built in 1892, taken over by the Manitoba Pool. This elevator no longer exists.

Pool "C" elevator in Elkhorn, MB
Pool “C” elevator in Elkhorn, MB, 1967, from the Provincial Archives of Manitoba

We recently acquired a negative showing a Pioneer grain elevator in Elkhorn in July 1981. This elevator had two annexes – a balloon annex and another elevator turned and connected to the main elevator. My guess is that this was at the end of 2nd Street, as there is a concrete pad west of the current elevator that may have been the base for the fertilizer shed seen on the right in the 1981 image.

Black and white photograph of a wooden grain elevator with PIONEER printed on the side.
Pioneer grain elevator in Elkhorn, MB, July 1981. Contributed by Steve Boyko.

The Pool “A” elevator may have been one of these:

  • the former Ogilvie elevator, built in 1914 to replace their flat warehouse built in 1886; or
  • the former Continental elevator, built in 1925 and taken over by the Manitoba Pool Elevator Association in 1928.

Elkhorn hosts the Manitoba Antique Automobile Museum.

See also