Description of Historic Place

The McCabe’s Grain Elevator is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the Rural Municipality of Baildon No. 131, 12 kilometres south of Moose Jaw. The 1913, wood-cribbed elevator is situated on the grounds of the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum and contributes to a collection of pioneer-era buildings and artifacts.

Heritage Value

The McCabe’s Grain Elevator is of heritage value as a representative example of a Prairie grain elevator. Such elevators were a common sight and characteristic feature in towns and villages on the Prairies, but have become increasingly rare. The elevator is of the ‘sloped-shoulder’ variety with a gable-roof cupola – the most common elevator form to be found on the Prairies. The elevator is constructed of wood cribbing and clad in metal to increase the fire-resistance of the structure. The elevator was built by the McCabe Grain Company in 1913 and originally located at Mawer, about 80 kilometres northwest of Moose Jaw. Since the elevator was located on a C.N. rail line rather than a C.P.R. rail line it did not need to meet the C. P. R. minimum standard-size requirement of 25,000 bushels for a free site, and is therefore slightly smaller than many of the elevators on the Prairies. It was moved to the present site in 2007 and forms an integral component of the collection of pioneer-era structures.

Source:

R.M. of Baildon No. 131 Bylaw No. 2/08.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the McCabe’s Grain Elevator resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements of the elevator’s architecture, such as its cribbed, wooden construction; 18,000 bushel capacity; sloped-shoulder form with gable-roof cupola; multi-pane cupola windows; metal cladding; gable-and shed-roof drive shed with large, sliding double doors.