Historic Sites of Manitoba: Sangster Barn (Municipality of North Cypress-Langford)

The map location shown for this Historic Site of Manitoba is APPROXIMATE.
If you know its exact location, please contact us at webmaster@mhs.mb.ca.

Around 1981, this barn in what is now the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford was featured in a Manitoba Co-operator series on rural buildings. The original caption for the photograph is given below.

This tall and proud example of Ontario barn styles is found two miles west and one mile south of Neepawa. Measuring an impressive 72 feet in length and 46 feet in breadth, the rare example of vertical siding was built for Mrs. Margaret Sangster in 1914. Alma Banyard, the current owner, reports that Mrs. Sangster was widowed in 1903 but continued the farm with her two children until the son was old enough to take over. He ordered in car-lots of British Columbia fir to construct the barn which features 10-foot ceilings instead of the traditional nine. The frame consists of 10-inch square timbers held together mainly with wooden dowels. The siding is six-inch fir flooring, while the upper floor is constructed of four-inch thick planks that have over the years supported many local barn dances. The Ontario-style ban reflects the original owner’s origins in Eastern Canada and is now used for grain and general farm storage. Please note the two ventilation chimneys at each gable peak, rather than cupolas that decorate most barn roof ridges in the province. This large barn with its spacious storage capacity seems appropriate for the Neepawa area. The Neepawa is a Chippewa word meaning “plenty” or “abundance” and perhaps reflected the fact this area at one time shipped more grain than any other area in Manitoba.

No information is available on the present status of the building.

Sangster Barn

Sangster Barn (circa 1981)
Source: Bob Hainstock

Approximate Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.21103, W99.52287
denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Co-operator Rural Buildings Series

Sources:

This page was prepared by Bob Hainstock, Ed Ledohowski, and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 31 January 2021

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