Banks and other
Financial Buildings
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and other Financial Buildings
Main Street's
"Banker's Row" was so named for the many banks which
opened their doors in Winnipeg at the turn of the century.
There were over twenty banks and other financial institutions
on Main Street banks and other financial institutions on Main
Street between City Hall and Portage Avenue including the
Bank of Montreal, the Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial
Bank (which merged to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce),
the Royal Bank, and the Bank of Toronto and the Dominion Bank
(which merged to from the Toronto-Dominion Bank). Most of
the banks had their Western regional headquarters in Winnipeg
and one, the Union Bank of Canada, moved its Canadian headquarters
to the city. As well, many important financial institutions
such as the Great-West Life Assurance Co. and other trust
and insurance companies were founded in the city.
THE WINNIPEG STOCK EXCHANGE
The Winnipeg Stock Exchange was founded in 1903 and officially
opened trading on February 1, 1909. The Grain Exchange Building
became the home of this institution with the fist six stocks
called being those of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Canada
Landed and National Trust, Northern Trust, the Great-West
Life Assurance Co. and the Winnipeg Street Railway Co. There
were twenty-four traders on opening day. The Winnipeg Stock
Exchange moved to 423 Main Street in 1927 (on the site of
the Canadian Wheat Board in the One storey building) but later
relocated back to the Grain Exchange building.
LAKE OF THE WOODS HOUSE
212 McDermot Avenue
1901 John H.G. Russell
An unusual example of Romanesque Revival architecture, this
fine building was constructed for the Lake of the Woods Milling
Co., the largest such company in Canada at the turn of the
century. Based in Montreal, it owned the largest mill in the
country at Keewatin, Ontario and had a large warehouse, purchasing
and manufacturing capacity in Winnipeg. The building features
two red brick facades with round-head windows on the main
floor and a sandstone-faced entrance on McDermot Avenue inscribed
with the name of the company (sandstone is quite soft and
was not commonly used in local buildings). It also features
a dentilled brick and metal cornice, rounded at the corner
and supported by unusual turret-like brick corbelling caps
the building.
DAWSON RICHARDSON BUILDING
169-171 McDermot Avenue
1921 Charles S. Bridgman
William Sanford Evans, Mayor from 1909-11 and the one-time
editor of the Telegram newspaper, and Dawson Richardson, a
grain broker, together founded a publishing firm in 1920 specializing
in grain industry news. The two-storey building contained
the printing plant and offices of Richardson Publishing which
produced Grain Trade News and other periodicals. The structure
was surrounded by a number of Victorian buildings used by
the printing industry including the Franklin Press Building
at 168 Bannatyne Avenue, the Toronto Type Foundry at 173 McDermot
Avenue and the T.W. Taylor Building at 177 McDermot Avenue.
It was the last to be constructed in the District for the
printing and publishing industry. The Dawson Richardson Building
and the adjacent Porter Building now contain a nightclub.
PORTER BUILDING
165 McDermot Avenue
1906 John H.G. Russell
This is one of the first transitional warehouse to be constructed
in the District during the Edwardian era. It was built for
James Porter & Company, a wholesale crockery, china and
glass firm. The building, with its red clay brick and dressed
limestone facades, contrasts with the many heavily-detailed
Victorian buildings on this block of McDermot Avenue. It occupied
a favourable business location adjacent to the new Grain Exchange
Building on Lombard Avenue and was intended for conversion
to office use. The plan was thwarted, however, by the First
World War. James Porter & Co. closed its doors in 1943
and the building was subsequently occupied by Sandford Evans
& Co. This grain news published firm was founded by William
Sanford Evans and is now one of the largest publishers in
Winnipeg. The six-storey building was later occupied by the
Galpern Candy Co.
INLAND REVENUE WAREHOUSE
145 McDermot Avenue
1908 Department of Public Works, Ottawa
A fine example of the Edwardian Romanesque Revival style,
this large warehouse was constructed by the Canadian Department
of Public Works for use by the Department of Inland Revenue
in customs inspection. Situated across from the new Grain
Exchange Building on Lombard Avenue, the building is of wood
and concrete construction. It has red brick facades on all
four sides with rounded-head openings leading to covered driveways
at the northwest corner and an annex at the eastern end of
the building. Through these openings, shipments coming into
or out of the District on adjacent rail lines were delivered
for inspection. This building remains in use today as warehouse
for the Government of Canada.
GRAIN EXCHANGE BUILDING III
167 Lombard Avenue
1906-08 Seven Storeys Darling & Pearson, Toronto
1913 Seven-storey addition Jordan & Over
1916, 1923 & 1928 Three storeys added
The centre of commerce in the exchange District, the Grain
Exchange Building reflected the growth of Winnipeg at the
turn of the century. The original seven-storey building was
designed by Canada's foremost architects, Darling & Pearson
of Toronto with subsequent additions by their Winnipeg associate,
Jordan and Over. Built in the Renaissance palace style, the
structure features stone and terra cotta details including
a false balcony on the second floor. A row of arched windows
on the sixth floor shows the location of the two-storey trading
room which has now been divided and houses the Chamber of
Commerce. Though the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, now known as
the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange, moved to the southwest corner
of Portage and Main in 1980, the building continues to be
occupied by businesses involved in the grain industry.
GREAT-WEST LIFE BUILDING
177 Lombard Avenue
1909-11 John D. Atchison
1922 Four storeys added
Erected for one of Western Canada's largest financial institutions,
this building is a fine example of the French Beaux-Arts School
style. The Great-West Life Assurance Company was founded in
Winnipeg in 1891 and its board of directors included the city's
business elite. The building was originally four storeys constructed
with a steel frame and tile arches that made it fireproof.
Canadian materials were used throughout - the exterior is
faced with grey marble and features bronze window frames and
doors while the interior is finished in white marble. The
building continued to be occupied by the Great-West Life Assurance
Co. until 1958-59 when the company built new headquarters
on Osborne Street. In a reverse of historical trends, this
was one of the few Winnipeg companies to open a branch office
in Toronto. Today the building contains government offices
with a restaurant and retail store on the main floor.
ELECTRIC RAILWAY CHAMBERS
213 Notre Dame Avenue
1913 Pratt & Ross, Winnipeg Charles S. Frost, Chicago
Each arch of the Electric railway Chambers is studded with
electric lights - 6,000 in all - which are lit every year
at Christmas. The Winnipeg Electric Railway Co., a firm which
operated the city's electric streetcar system and its first
hydro-electric utility, constructed this steel frame and concrete
building. It is one of the finest buildings to be erected
in the District in the Chicago School style as influenced
by architect Louis Sullivan. The Italian Renaissance facades
are of polished granite on the lower two floors with typical
Sullivanesque terra cotta detailing, including lion statuary
on the upper floors. The Winnipeg Electric (Railway) Co. was
taken over by the Government of Manitoba in 1953. The eleven-storey
building today contains offices.
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