Historic Sites of Manitoba: Chalmers and Watson Block (11 Railway Street South, Pilot Mound, Municipality of Louise)

This two-storey brick building on Railway Street in Pilot Mound, in the Municipality of Louise, measuring 25 feet by 50 feet, was built in 1897 to accommodate the lumber, hardware, and grain business of John McLagen Chalmers (1864-1949) and George Thompson Watson (1854-1936).

In 1911, the business was sold to James Winram (1860-1933) and the building went to George Walton Brisbin who rented it to various tenants through the years including McCullough’s General Store, Dr. Thomas Andrew Cohoe (1879-1939) who ran the Pilot Mound Pharmacy, and later Brisbin’s harness repair business.

Chalmers and Watson Block (June 2023) Source: Jordan Makichuk Chalmers and Watson Block (April 2025) Source: Gordon Goldsborough Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.20199, W98.89362 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Memorable Manitobans: George Walton Brisbin (1881-1957)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Bank of Hamilton Building / Bank of Commerce Building / Pharmacy Building (105 Railway Street, Pilot Mound, Municipality of Louise)

Sources:

1901 Canada census, Automated Genealogy.

Death registrations [James Winram, George Thompson Watson, John McLagen Chalmers], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“George Watson, pioneer lumber merchant, dies,” Winnipeg Tribune, 10 August 1936, page 13.

Obituary [John M. Chalmers], Winnipeg Tribune, 14 March 1949, page 27.

Prairie Pride Land by Louise History Book Committee, 1998, page 62.

Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.

This page was prepared by Jordan Makichuk and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 2 May 2025

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