Grain Transshipment at the Lakehead National Historic Event
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Historic photograph
© Library and Archives Canada, Canada Post Corporation | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, Société canadienne des postes, Mikan 2242368.
Address :
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
2015-03-18
Dates:
-
1883 to 1970
(Significant)
Other Name(s):
-
Grain Transshipment at the Lakehead
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Underline the development of this major transshipment point for grain moving from prairie farms to foreign markets and, in the early 20th century, one of North America’s major grain storage centres
Plaque(s)
In the 20th century, the Lakehead (Fort William and Port Arthur) was one of North America’s major centres for the storage, processing, and shipping of Prairie grain destined for foreign markets. In 1883–1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed the first terminal elevator at Port Arthur. There were some 30 terminals in the area by 1929. Together, they could store up to 88.5 million bushels of grain. The former Fort William Elevator 10, built in 1913, evokes this period of incredible agricultural growth in western Canada, as well as the Lakehead’s central role in facilitating Canada’s leadership in the international grain trade.