Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator / Private Grain Elevator (Gretna, Municipality of Rhineland)

Link to:
Agents / Buyers | Photos & Coordinates | Sources

One of only two surviving elevators in the Municipality of Rhineland, the former Manitoba Pool elevator at Gretna, on the CPR Gretna Subdivision, was built in 1950. Its 50,000-bushel capacity was enlarged in 1967 with a new crib annex with room for another 70,000 bushels. Still more space was acquired through the Pool purchase of Federal Grain elevators in 1972, and the conversion of its elevator into a second annex. The railway line between Altona and Gretna was threatened with closure in the early 1980s but, after public outcry, it was saved and upgraded in 1985. It would prove a temporary reprieve. CPR abandoned the line on 31 July 1996, prompting the elevator to close the same day. It was later sold and used for private grain storage.

Agents / Buyers

Period	Agent / Buyer
1951-1952	R. H. Streimer
1952-1957	Peter P. Wiebe
1957-1958	D. Sawatsky
1958-1982	Frank L. Friesen
1982-1996	James R. Borgford

Photos & Coordinates

Aerial view of the Gretna grain elevators (1980s) Source: S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University Repairs to Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Gretna (c1960) by Earl Gordon Johnston Source: Shelley Johnston-Frith Railway cars at the Gretna elevator (no date) Source: Doug Belcher Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator at Gretna (June 1992) Source: Historic Resources Branch, Grain Elevator Inventory, slide 2215. The former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Gretna (July 2014) Source: Jean McManus Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.00499, W97.56027 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Henry Ritz Grain Elevator A (Seventh Street, Gretna, Municipality of Rhineland)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Henry Ritz Grain Elevator B (Seventh Street, Gretna, Municipality of Rhineland)

Sources:

“Pool ponders Gretna elevator,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 September 1996, page 7.

Manitoba Pool Fonds, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University.

We thank Doug Belcher and Shelley Johnston-Frith for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Jean McManus.

Page revised: 9 October 2022

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