In 1882, a five-storey flour mill was constructed at this site in Portage la Prairie, on the Canadian Pacific Railway line along Fourth Avenue between Second and Third street NW, by the Portage Milling Company at a cost of about $65,000. Executives of the firm included Francis Ogletree (President) and A. P. Campbell (Managing Director).
The exterior of the wooden mill building was clad in iron panels for fire retardency. The interior was heated by steam produced by burning wood and coal in two boilers, each fourteen feet long and sixty inches in diameter. The space was illuminated by electric lights. On the first floor were four machines for cleaning grain before milling. The second floor had two, four-foot stones, four double sets of rollers, two single sets of rollers, and three packers for grinding the grain. The third floor had stock hoppers and five large purifiers. A double, sixteen-reel bolting chest and bran duster were on the fourth floor, and magnets and a separating reel were on the five floor.
The mill building was separated by 37 feet from a 125,000-bushel grain elevator that measured 45 feet wide, 80 feet long, and 97 feet tall. The two buildings were connected by an iron spout. Grain delivered to the facility was first stored in the elevator then transferred to the mill through the spout. Bran produced during milling was returned to the elevator through the same spout. To the north of the facility was a pond that held water for use in mill operations. Gardens developed around the site were said to be among the finest in the province.
When the mill began operation in November 1882, it ran 24 hours a day and its daily output was 300 to 400 barrels of flour made from prairie wheat. Purchased in 1892 by the Lake of the Woods Milling Company, its capacity was increased successively to 800 then to 1500 barrels a day. The plant eventually had storage space for 150,000 bushels of grain.
The mill and 75,000 bushels of grain were destroyed by fire on 22 April 1943 and the facility was not rebuilt. The site is now vacant.
Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (September 1908)
Source: Fire insurance map #2 of Portage la Prairie, Charles E. Goad, Toronto & Montreal
Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (no date)
Source: Fort la Reine Museum
Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (no date) by William James Topley
Source: Library and Archives Canada, PA-026223
Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (1898)
Source: Northwest Farmer and Miller, April 1898, page 141.
Postcard view of Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (no date)
Source: Gordon Goldsborough, 2021-0069
Postcard view of Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie (no date)
Source: Internet Archive, PC00826
Lake of the Woods mill at Portage la Prairie on fire (April 1943)
Source: Winnipeg Tribune, 23 April 1943, page 1.Site Coordinates (lat/long): N49.97871, W98.29353
denoted by symbol on the map above
See also:
Manitoba Business: Lake of the Woods Milling Company
“Provincial gleanings,” Manitoba Free Press, 13 November 1882, page 2.
“Portage la Prairie,” Manitoba Free Press, 29 December 1882, page 2.
Fire insurance maps of Portage la Prairie, Charles E. Goad, Toronto & Montreal, September 1908. [Copy held by Gordon Goldsborough]
“75,000 bushel blaze,” Winnipeg Tribune, 23 April 1943, page 1.
A History of Flour Milling in Manitoba by Karen Nicholson, Neil Otto, and Edward Ledohowski, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, May 1992, pages 170-174.
We thank James Kostuchuk for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Glen Toews.
Page revised: 31 May 2025
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