Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lake of the Woods Grain Elevator / Ogilvie Grain Elevator / Manitoba Pool Grain Elevator / Private Grain Elevator (Tyndall, RM of Brokenhead)

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

A 35,000-bushel wooden grain elevator at Tyndall, on the CPR Lac du Bonnet Subdivision in the Rural Municipality of Brokenhead, was built around 1948 for the Lake of the Woods Milling Company. It replaced an earlier elevator at the site, built in 1918 by the Harper Construction Company, that was disassembled. Sold to Ogilvie Flour Mills in November 1954, five years later the elevator was sold to Manitoba Pool Elevators and, the following year, its operation was taken over by a farmer-led cooperative, the Tyndall Co-operative Elevator Association. That same year, a 30,000-bushel balloon annex was constructed on its west side, along with a residence for the elevator agent.

In 1971, the results of an analysis by Manitoba Pool showed that “the farmers concerned could be reasonably well served at neighboring points, so that the cost of the small unit could be eliminated without significantly increasing the cost to farmers or to neighboring elevators.” The elevator at Tyndall closed in July 1971 and was sold to the Tyndall Grain Corporation, a privately licensed grain dealer focussing on the independent hog producers of southeastern Manitoba. A dust collection system installed in the elevator by Manitoba Pool was removed prior to its sale.

The rail line was abandoned around 1990 but the elevator continued to operate as an inland storage facility, with grain transported by trucks. It closed around 2012 as the need for large, bulk storage declined.

The elevator was demolished between April and May 2022.

Agents / Buyers

Period	Agent / Buyer
1918-1922	?
1922-1924	W. L. Knox
1924-1926	J. F. Kehoe
1926-1928	D. O’Donnell
1928-1932	R. Burns
1932-1935	J. Gordon
1935-1956	Frank North Downie (1895-1969)
1956-1964	Harry A. “Hank” Lyle (c1895-1975)
1964-1966	R. Yager
1966-1971	A. P. Smith

Photos & Coordinates

Former Manitoba Pool grain elevator and annex at Tyndall (April 2004) Source: Bernie Freeman Former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Tyndall (July 2014) Source: Jean McManus Former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Tyndall (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Tyndall (April 2019) Source: Rose Kuzina Aerial view of former Manitoba Pool grain elevator at Tyndall (June 2019) Source: George Penner Site Coordinates (lat/long): N50.08480, W96.65952 denoted by symbol on the map above

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Abandoned Manitoba

Sources:

Annual Report 1960, Manitoba Pool Elevators, Manitoba Pool Fonds, S. J. McKee Archives, Brandon University.

“Tyndall, Man.,” Ogilvie Mills, MSS120, Box 145, File 10, University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections.

Obituary [Frank Downie], Winnipeg Free Press, 31 January 1969, page 33.

Grain Elevators in Canada for the Crop Year 1971-72, Canada Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, 1971. [Manitoba Legislative Library]

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

We thank Bill Sutherland, Jean McManus, and Rose Kuzina for providing additional information used here.

This page was prepared by Matt Bialek and Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 28 April 2022

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