Other Name(s)
A. Robertson Block
Robertson Furniture Store
Davidson Meats
W.D. McMillan Block
Magasin de meubles Robertson
Grossiste en viandes Davidson
Immeuble A. Robertson
Immeuble W.D. McMillan
Davidson Building
Links and documents
Construction Date(s)
1885/01/01 to 1885/12/31
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2009/01/08
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Davidson Building, a substantial masonry complex on a corner site in Carberry's business district, consists of two commercial structures - a two-storey mixed-use block built in ca. 1885 and an adjacent one-storey facility (north side) erected in the 1910s. The municipal designation applies to the two buildings and their deep lots.
Heritage Value
The Davidson Building is one of Carberry's largest and oldest commercial landmarks, advantageously situated at a major intersection in what is now designated as Historic Downtown Carberry, and visually and physically prominent because of its bold brick proportions and expressive Romanesque Revival features. The expansive two-part complex, which incorporates a one-storey former garage and movie theatre, also is a functional hub that has adaptively housed the goods, services and residential uses vital to life in small prairie centres. Among its occupants have been pioneer merchants, implement dealers, butchers, rental meat lockers, a World War II service club for personnel stationed at a nearby flying school, and, in recent decades, one of the town's major grocery stores.
Source: Town of Carberry By-law No. 5/2006, June 12, 2007
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Davidson Building site within Historic Downtown Carberry include:
- the strategic and highly visible location at northwest Main Street and Third Avenue in a section of the town centre that contains a mix of commercial and public facilities
- the placement of the complex's two buildings, extending nearly the full depths of their lots and abutting the front public sidewalk, with the south wall of the ca. 1885 structure also set flush to a sidewalk
- the complex's visual, physical and historical relationships with other nearby designated sites
Key exterior elements that define the heritage character of the ca. 1885 building include:
- the substantial and deep rectangular form, two storeys high, of brick construction over a stone foundation, with a flat roof and lively roofline of stepped parapets, raised pilaster capitals, tall brick chimneys, etc.
- the symmetry and fine Romanesque Revival features of the three-bay upper front (east) facade, including pilasters with modestly detailed capitals, tall, single segmental-arched sash windows with corresponding drip moulding, a corbelled and arcaded cornice, a pedimented parapet, etc.
- the long south side, stepped progressively downward in elevation from front to rear, divided by brick pilasters into bays of equal proportion; the orderly arrangement of single segmental-arched windows (and one doorway with a high transom) elsewhere; a corbelled cornice-parapet; drip moulding and other horizontal banding elements; etc.
Key exterior elements that define the heritage character of the former garage-movie theatre include:
- the deep one-storey rectangular form, of brick construction, with a finish of red-brown brick, a flat roof, front parapet, stepped side walls, etc.
Recognition
Jurisdiction
Manitoba
Recognition Authority
Local Governments (MB)
Recognition Statute
Manitoba Historic Resources Act
Recognition Type
Municipal Heritage Site
Recognition Date
2007/06/12
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
1910/01/01 to 1910/12/31
Theme - Category and Type
- Developing Economies
- Trade and Commerce
Function - Category and Type
Current
Historic
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Shop or Wholesale Establishment
Architect / Designer
n/a
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
Town of Carberry 316-4th Avenue Box 130 Carberry MB R0K 0H0
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
M0317
Status
Published
Related Places
n/a