PIONEER

The Pioneer Grain Company was established in 1913 by James Richardson & Sons, as a wholly owned subsidiary to operate the company's grain elevators.

Pioneer acquired the Sunny Belt Grain & Elevator Co in 1913, and in 1953 purchased the Independent Grain Co. Pioneer is still operating in 2006 in Alberta.

Pioneer had at least 135 known in Alberta, 10 operating left in 2006 (5 wood, 5 HTP)

BLACKIE:


Blackie is located on the main CP line which now runs from Aldersyde to Lethbridge. This elevator is still operated by Pioneer.

NANTON:


Nanton was located on the CP line which ran south of Aldersyde to Fort Macleod. It's two elevators, which were an Alberta Wheat Pool and a UGG. They are now being saved by Nanton for a museum.

OLDS:


Olds is located south of Red Deer on the main CP line between Calgary and Edmonton. This elevator is a HTP (High Throughput) elevator located south of Olds.

OYEN:


Oyen, located on the CN main line about 20 miles west of the Saskatchewan border in east central Alberta, has one Pioneer elevator left. Another HTP Pioneer is located about 2 miles east of Oyen.

STROME:


Strome, located on the CP line east of Camrose, was closed December 31, 2005.

SUNNYBROOK:



Sunnybrook is located at the end of the CP line which runs west of Leduc.
It was built in 1936, and is still in operation today.

VULCAN



Vulcan's Pioneer is the last of the famous "Nine in a line" elevators. It was originally built in 1917, and is still in operation (2005).

CARGILL

Cargill entered into grain elevators in 1974 when the company purchased National Grain.

Cargill had approx. 29 known elevators in Alberta, has 9 presently standing in 2006 (1 HTP, 2 operated by Cargill, 2 abandoned, and 4 owned by private companies)

BARNWELL:


Barnwell is located west of Taber in southern Alberta, and this elevator is now privately owned.

CHANCELLOR:


Chancellor is on an abandoned stretch of CP track that used to run from Bassano to Irricana Alberta, but now runs from Standard to Bassano. The elevator was closed in 1999, and has been abandoned.

ERVICK:


Ervick is located on the CP line west of Camrose, and the two elevators are owned by Cargill Feeds

FAHLER:


Fahler's Cargill is located east of the town on the McKenzie and Northern Railway (formerly Northern Alberta Railways and Canadian National Railways). As far as I know, it is privately owned.

MARWAYNE:




Marwayne is located on the CP line NE of Lloydminister, Alberta. as of 2005, these two Cargils are now privately owned.

RYCROFT:


Rycroft is on the Savage Alberta Railway, which was ealier owned by the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) and CN. This elevator is now owned by the Peace River Seed Co-op, and was originally closed in 2000.

SEXSMITH:


Sexsmith is located between Grand Prairie and Rycroff on the Savage Alberta Railway, and this elevator is presently abandoned.

Parrish and Heimbecker

Parrish and Heimbecker Limited was formed in 1909 by William Parrish and Norman G. Heimbecker. Until 1918, the firm bought and sold grain on the Winnipeg Grain Exchange, but was not operating grain elevators.

In 1918, P&H bought 10 elevators from Louis Strong and Frederick Dowler, who were Calgary grain brokers. After buying more elevators, by 1920, P&H had 20 elevators.

In Alberta, P&H had 47 known elevators, after acquiring the Ellison Milling and Elevator Company, which had 12 elevators in Southern Alberta.

Presently, P&H has 3 High Throughput (HTP) concrete elevators, 6 Privately Owned, 6 Wooden Elevators, and 6 Abandoned.

ARROWWOOD


Arrowwood is south of Gleichen, and was located on the CP line which ran from Mossleigh to Suffield. It is now owned by the B&B Ag Services.

CARDSTON


The Cardston P&H, located on the CP line which ran from Stirling to Glenwood in the extreme SW part of Alberta, was destroyed in 2005.

CHIN




Chin has a P&H and an Elliston Flour Elevator, both which were owned by Parrish and Heimbecker. They are located on the CP line east of Lethbridge. I do not have any information on theese two elevators.

COALDALE


Coaldale's P&H, which was owned by Ellison, was built in 1937, and bought by P&H in 1975.

MAGRATH




Magrath has three P&H's, and was located on the Stirling-Glenwood CP line. However, the line was washed out east of Magrath, and was never rebuilt. The elevators are now owned by a private owner.

MILK RIVER



Milk River has two P&H elevators, and is located on the CP line which runs from Lethbridge to Coutts at the US Border.

MOSSLEIGH



Mossleigh is the only town in Alberta which has three P&H elevators, and is located at the end of the CP line which runs to Eltham Junction.

RAYMOND


Raymond is located on the CP line which ran from Stirling to Glenwood, but now ends at Raymond. I am not certain if this elevator is still standing today (2006).

SHARPLES



Sharples was located on the CP line which ran from Drumheller to Cosmay (north of Acme), and was built in 1923. It was closed in 1984, and is still standing today (2006)

SKIFF


Skiff is located on the CP line that ran from Stirling east to the Saskatchewan border, but now runs as far as Foremost. It was originally an Elliston Elevator, built in 1929, and taken over by P&H in 1975. I beileve it is now privately owned (2004)

STETTLER



Stettler's P&H is located on the former CN line which ran from Munson to Camrose. The line is now owned by the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions. The elevator was built in 1915, and was bought by P&H in 1919. The elevator was closed in 2002, and a local society is trying to preserve it.

STIRLING


Stirling's P&H was built by Ellison in 1922, and bought by P&H in 1975. It was located on the CP line which ran from Lethbridge to Coutts in southern Alberta. It is now located north of Stirling on a private farm.

THREE HILLS


Three Hills is located on the CN (formerly GTP) line which runs from Camrose to Calgary. The P&H is now owned by the Country Grain and Feed Mill.

Federal Grain Company

Federal Grain was formed in 1929, when nine companies merged together. They were: the Federal Grain Co., Consolidated Elevator Co., Northwestern Elevator Co., Stewart Elevator Ltd., Topper Grain Co., International Elevator Co., McLaughlin Elevator Co., Brooks Elevator Co., and Union Grain Company Ltd.

Alberta Pacific became a wholly owned subsidiary of Federal in 1943, and the Searle Grain Co. amalgamated with Federal in 1967. Finally in 1972, Federal elevators were sold to the three provincial wheat pools (Alberta Wheat Pool, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, and Manitoba Wheat Pool.

(Special thanks to Sask Grain Elevators - Inventory-based research project (Maureen Pederson September 2000))

There were an estimated 238 Federal Elevators In Alberta

As of 2006, there is only 1 Left Standing, South of Duffield.

DUFFIELD:




It was photographed south-west of Duffield, east of Wabamun on the main CN line, running west of Edmonton. The elevator was originally built by Home Grain in 1924, and was bought out by Alberta Pacific and then Federal in 1967. It was closed in July of 1971, and moved to it's present location in 1974.
I am planning to photograph this elevator sometime this year.

A Mystery Solved!

My dad had just gotten a whole set of Alberta Wheat Pool Agents Daily Letter Forms from a friend of ours. These were used to keep track on how much grain was in the elevator per day, and I think to also keep track on how much grain was in the other elevators in town. Probably to keep the records straight in case of error or fire. She had found them during a building move, and brought them to us. The pads I was looking at ranged from 1938-1939, and another dated from 1943. I was surprised to find out that my home town of Delia had THREE Pioneer elevators, and two Alberta Pools, as well as a National, UGG and Alberta Pacific elevators, according to the Daily Letter from 1938. You can see the names of the elevators on the left side of the sheet.


Here's a picture of the page.

The next one from 1943 had the number of elevators I had known about... Delia had an Alberta Wheat Pool, Alberta Pacific, 2 Pioneer, National and UGG elevator.


Here is the one from 1943.

I checked into my own records, and also double checked the Delia History book for clarification... and my records had not shown that there was another Pioneer elevator, but it was torn down in 1940. It was originally owned by Wolfe Grain Co, and was bought by Pioneer in 1932. The other pool elevator which is on the list (Pool #1) was built in 1929, and was built after the first, which was built in 1927. These two were moved together in the 1940's. I think it was the way the article in the book was written that made me confused.

It's truly amazing what some old, mouse munched documents can start or end a mystery that you never even known you had.

Pics of Myself

Here are two pictures of me taken by the Calgary Herald late last year when this project was showcased in the Calgary Herald.


This is me checking out the map. It wasn't used in the article.


This is me walking west of Delia's remaining elevator on the Canadian National rail tracks. It used to be a Pioneer, but was sold to a local farmer, and was repainted John Deere Green.

Searle Grain Co. Ltd.

The Searle Grain Company was started by Augustus Searle and his son Stewart Searle in 1929. It was headquartered in Melfort, Saskatchewan, and started with 25 elevators.

By 1929, Augustus Searle consolidated the elevators from the Saskatchewan Elevator Co., Home Grain Co., Liberty Grain and their own Searle Grain, into the Searle Grain Company Limited. This resulted in the company owning 277 licensed elevators.

By 1948, Searle expanded to 386 elevators after acquisitioning the Malden Elevator Co., Standard Elevator Co., 13 Quaker Oats elevators, and 51 elevators from Reliance Grain.

By 1967, Searle amalgamated with the Federal Grain Co.

(Special thanks to Saskatchewan Grain Elevators, An Inventory-Based Research Project), By Maureen Pedersen (Sept. 2000) for the above information.

By 2005, there are only 3 known Searle elevators still standing in Alberta.



This one is located in the hamlet of Rowley, Alberta, which is about 35 kilometres North of Drumheller. Rowley was on the Canadian National line which ran from Dinosaur Junction (Munson) to Camrose. (Taken January 2004)



The second is located in Milo, about 30 kilometres NE of Vulcan, Alberta. It was repainted as an Alberta Wheat Pool, and is presently being used by Agricore-United Crop Production Center as a fertilizer storage facility. Milo was on the Canadian Pacific Line which ran from Eltham (located south-east of Blackie) to just north-west of Suffield, Alberta. (Taken May 4, 2005)


This Searle is located on a private farm south of Duffield, Alberta which is located in the Wabamun area. Duffield is on the main Canadian National Line which runs west of Edmonton, Alberta. (Taken by Johnnie Bachusky, 2005)

National Grain Company Elevators

The National Grain Company was the result of a merger between National Elevator Co, Grand Trunk Pacific Elevator Co, Northern Elevator Co, and British American Elevator Co. which merged in 1940.

At last count, National had 77 in operating in Alberta.



This elevator was located in Clairmont, Alberta, which is just north of Grand Prairie. The elevator was located on the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) / Canadian National rail line. This picture was taken July 12, 2005. Sadly, this elevator was destroyed in September, 2005.


This elevator is located at Poe, Alberta, which is about 5 miles SE of Ryley. It was closed in the 1970's, and is privately owned. I am looking for info on the history of the elevator, but I do know it may have been a Security Co. elevator sometime in it's history. Poe is located on the Canadian National Line which runs from Edmonton to Butze, Alberta. (Taken November 2, 2004)


(Taken March 26, 2004)

As of today, December 31, 2005... there is only one known National elevator left in Alberta, and it is this one at Poe.