Pictures of the grain elevator in my old home town

Bruce from Can. · Feb 11, 2017

This elevator is reported to be the oldest of it's kind still standing in Canada. Built some time around 1860. When I was in my teens, I would drive there to pick up feed for the farmer I worked for. The feed company that owned it , Master Feeds, closed it down, and sold it, sometime around 1979. Changed hands a couple times over the years, but never was a grain elevator again. The town bought it a few years ago, and can't decided what to do with it. They can't take it down, as it is a historical building, and still structuraly sound. That flat area beyond the feed mill is a frozen lake, and the hill in the distance, the Island where I grew up and farmed till I turned 43, and move to our current farm. Bruce

rrlund · Feb 11, 2017

The first one here burned in 1915. They rebuilt and that one burned. It was replaced with a new steel structure in the late 50s. That one closed in the 90s and was torn down a few years ago.

ss55 · Feb 11, 2017

Very nice! I was expecting an elevator like in "Corner Gas".

In the 1860's did they use a steam engine to power the grain lift, or did they use a horse powered treadmill, or a horse sweep and tumble shafts?

Bruce from Can. · Feb 11, 2017

Now I only know what my dad told me , and he was born in 1918. Dad said the elevator had a steam power house , and when he was a kid in the 20's , the town's power was supplied by the power house at the elevator. Dad told me everyone went to town Saturday night, and the main street was all lit up with electric lights , and the stores stayed open till 11 or 12 pm. The engineer would sound the whistle twice at ten minutes before he would shut down the power . Then on the hour , the town was in darkness. So at 10 minutes to , everyone would head for their wagon , or buggy , and try to leave before lights out. Can you imagine that today?

steve706 · Feb 11, 2017

I spent a lot of time in my youth out on that lake, good memories of days well wasted.

lee little · Feb 11, 2017

Thanks for sharing Bruce. I always enjoy seeing pictures like that and really enjoy little bits of history like that. Lee

JayinNY · Feb 11, 2017

That's nice looking, why not turn it into a bar and restaurant? Outside dining on a deck by the lake???? Lol

rusty6 · Feb 11, 2017

Looks like a well preserved elevator and someone is looking after it. Most of those old elevators here were powered by a big old one cylinder engine located under the office. Ruston Hornby was a popular engine in this area. In this photo I took almost 30 years ago you can see the elevator office building with ample space under it for the engine. But the engines were long gone and replaced by electric power.

SweetFeet · Feb 11, 2017

It's beautiful. Hopefully they can come up with a creative use for it so it gets maintained.

fixerupper · Feb 11, 2017

Thanks for the pics. When I was in Sask I couldn't get over how many wooden elevators are still in use in that part of the country. The majority of them seemed to be oranage and had POOL in big letters on them, short for the Canadian Grain Pool.

In my neck of the woods here in Iowa the wooden elevators have been replaced with huge cement or steel structures to hold the high yielding crops we grow.

Jon Erickson · Feb 11, 2017

Thanks for sharing very interesting photos.

rusty6 · Feb 11, 2017

(quoted from post at 18:49:58 02/11/17) Thanks for the pics. When I was in Sask I couldn't get over how many wooden elevators are still in use in that part of the country. The majority of them seemed to be oranage and had POOL in big letters on them, short for the Canadian Grain Pool.

It must have been a few years since you were because of the few remaining wooden elevators , not many I know of are in use. If you saw orange you would be looking at Pioneer elevators. Sask. Wheat Pool were usually either red or silver.

Paul from MI · Feb 11, 2017

I couldn't believe how flat parts of Saskatchewan are until I saw one of those old elevators on the horizon---nine miles away!!! It was an impressive sight and I hope some can be preserved. I remember as a young man sitting in line at the local elevator for hours to unload grain. Very few trucks then, no cabs on tractors, it was kind of a social event cause everyone knew everyone else. Now I rarely sit in line more than a few minutes waiting to unload, but "time is money".

rrlund · Feb 12, 2017

That's how it is going east out of St Louis Michigan on 46 toward Breckenridge. You can see the Breckenridge elevator as soon as you leave St Louis. It's six or seven miles across there. Hard to believe when you figure it only five and a half miles from Sheridan to Stanton. As big as the hill is in between on 66,I don't know if you could see a flare in Stanton if somebody fired one off.

fixerupper · Feb 12, 2017

Rusty its been eight to ten years ago since I was last in Sask. We usually entered at Portal but sometimes we used the port nort of Scoby Mont. and went up to the Humboldt area. It's wide open country for sure. Last time I was in Canada it was eastern Sask in your neck of the woods. In fact I passed by not too far from your front door on the way to Kamsack and back. I couldn't figure out what Pool meant till I found out about the Pool grain marketing organization.

rusty6 · Feb 12, 2017

(quoted from post at 21:40:15 02/11/17) I couldn't believe how flat parts of Saskatchewan are until I saw one of those old elevators on the horizon---nine miles away!!!Now I rarely sit in line more than a few minutes waiting to unload, but "time is money".

I'm glad you said "parts" of Sask. are flat. It is pretty rolly here but never varying much more than a hundred feet in elevation. The reason those elevators were only 8 to 9 miles apart is because in the days of horse and wagon hauling that was considered as far as you would want to haul. My grandparents did well to haul one load (60 bushels) a day having a 25 mile round trip to town. Line ups at the elevator only happen when the power goes off nowadays but we used to occasionally sit a while and visit with other farmers waiting for the trucks ahead to empty.

INCase · Feb 13, 2017

times have changed... most of those grain trucks are probably replaced by semis now days.

a couple 5 years ago around here you could by 70's vintage grain trucks all day long for $500-1000 in decent running shape. prices have come up quite a bit lately though.

rusty6 · Feb 13, 2017

(quoted from post at 10:42:06 02/13/17) times have changed... most of those grain trucks are probably replaced by semis now days.

a couple 5 years ago around here you could by 70's vintage grain trucks all day long for $500-1000 in decent running shape. prices have come up quite a bit lately though.

You are right . It is not practical to haul 30 to 100 miles with a single axle , gas powered grain truck. There are a lot of semis and a fair few tandems that haul now. I get all mine custom hauled by semi since I don't own one.

Pictures of the grain elevator in my old home town

Bruce from Can.

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rrlund

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ss55

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Bruce from Can.

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steve706

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lee little

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JayinNY

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rusty6

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SweetFeet

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fixerupper

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Jon Erickson

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rusty6

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Paul from MI

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rrlund

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