n THE CARILLON STEINBACH, MAN. C4
n www.thecarillon.com THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026 Agriculture Now
‘Countdown’ project tracks demise of grain elevators
MIKE THIESSEN WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
The Austin grain elevator falls on April 15.
change and culture in Manitoba. Goldsborough said the aim is to document the history of elevators and encourage people to become better observers and better record- ers of those that remain. “For example … you see a grain elevator, and you think to yourself, ‘There’s not as many elevators as there used to be. I should go and have a look at that one right now,” he said. Many wooden grain elevators are obso- lete and accumulating damage from the ele- ments, deteriorating to the point that they will fall apart or present a public liability, Golds- borough said. This follows after the smaller, wooden elevators were replaced by more re- gional terminals that outsize the wooden el- evators. Because the elevators are symbolic, they are often associated with the history of the com- munity, and act as a bridge to the past. “I think most people acknowledge that el- evators are sort of symbolic. I mean, they’re iconic for the prairies. You ask the average per- son what they think of, and especially if you ask people from away, what do they think of when they think of the Canadian prairies, they will often cite a grain elevator.” This can lead community members to be sad to see them go, he said. It’s taken as a sign of the community’s decline, Goldsborough said. “I think that’s why people are just so bereft when their elevator comes down, because they know in a very real way, it’s like taking the heart of a community and ripping it out, be- cause you know, in most cases, the people say, ‘That elevator has been there my whole life.’”
by CONNOR MCDOWELL Local Journalism Initiative T he head researcher at the Manitoba His- torical Society is tracking the remainder of grain elevators in Manitoba through a “countdown” project as he believes all an- tiquated elevators could be gone within 20 years. The project records the dwindling state of Manitoba’s elevators as they are demolished, and offers an online map where the remaining grain elevators — a total of roughly 111, down from a peak of over 700 in Manitoba — can be found. Head researcher and webmaster of the society Gordon Goldsborough said the project is meant to capture transformation. “It’s something I think speaks to a much big- ger story, the story of rural depopulation,” he said. “I think that’s the story that this count- down kind of helps to illustrate, is the change in the landscape that is occurring right now.” Goldsborough also researches and collects data about the elevator’s town, size, materials, patrons, staff and construction materials. The effort is supported by a network of roughly 12 citizens who provide eyes and ears across the province, tipping Goldsborough off to updates and providing information to be documented. Citizens frequently submit pho- tos for record at the Manitoba Historical So- ciety, and then the photos are posted online. The “countdown” is part of a larger project, called the Historic Sites of Manitoba. The en- tire effort is meant to acknowledge contribu- tions from people of the past and highlight
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MIKE THIESSEN WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The “Austin” sign is quickly salvaged by members of Pine Creek Hutterite Colony. The colony has owned the elevator since 2001.
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