By 1915, the town of Markinch had five grain elevators along their “elevator row.” Today, the only grain elevator remaining in Markinch is the United Grain Growers’ elevator originally built and owned by North Star Grain around 1911. This elevator operated until the 2000s when it was shut down. Today the site contains the original elevator, an east attached annex for increased capacity, and a separate west annex. The owners hope to restore the elevator and annexes for use in red lentil production.
Region:
Field Documentation:
June 7, 2024
Field Documentation Type:
Terrestrial LiDAR
Culture:
Euro-Canadian
Historic Period:
1911CE
Latitude:
50.936497
Longitude:
-104.361651
Datum Type:
Threat Level
Early Elevators at Markinch
Markinch grain elevators and train station. From Grain Elevators of Canada (grainelevators.ca). Date and original source unknown.
Named by European settlers for the town of Markinch in Scotland, the Saskatchewan town was first settled in 1900 in anticipation of the Canadian Pacific Rail (CPR) expansion through the area [1,2]. The railway from Brandon reached Markinch in 1905 when the population of the town was 40 people, which reached its height in 1921 at a whooping 175 people [1,2].
By the time Markinch was incorporated as a town in 1911 there were three grain elevators built along the CRP line. These were owned by Canadian Grain Elevator Company, the Maple Leaf Milling Company, and North Star Grain although each of these would later be sold to other companies [1]. Two more elevators were added to the townscape in 1912 and 1913, respectively built by the Saskatchewan Cooperative Elevator Company (SCEC) and Markinch Milling Company. Both of these elevators disappear from records by 1915, when an elevator by local A.E Eberhart is added to records, likely indicating a private sale of one of these two latter elevators [1].
While all of these elevators would change hands throughout the years, today only the elevator originally built by North Star Grain still stands in Markinch.
Markinch Grain Elevator Market
In the early years of grain elevator expansion following the CPR expansion across the Prairies, three major framer-owned grain companies were organized: The Grain Growers Grain Company in 1906, the SCEC in 1911, and the Alberta Farmer’s Cooperative Elevator Company in 1913 [1,3]. All three of these had similar organization and objectives relating to mediating relationships between grain farmers who complained of unfair treatment by those who owned the grain elevators where the farmers’ grain would be stored before being loaded into railway cars. In 1917 the Grain Growers Grain Company and the Alberta Farmer’s Cooperative Elevator Company merged to form United Grain Growers (UGG) [1,3].
The SCEC remained separate and formed a verbal agreement with UGG to not built where the other was located. As the SCEC had built an early elevator at Markinch, this precluded the UGG from expanding into the area. This agreement lasted until after World War II when UGG started a major national and international expansion [1,3].
In 1948 UGG purchased most grain elevators left in Saskatchewan [1]. The UGG bought all of the four original elevators in Markinch, including the North Star Grain elevator. The UGG expanded the storage capacity of this elevator with the addition of a large balloon annex in 1953. In 1959 the UGG took over the Markinch processing plant and consolidated all Markinch grain operations [1].
Lorne Hern and the Markinch Local
Lorne Hern from Dawson, A. 2015.
After expansion, the UGG had to rearrange their governing structure including the creation of boards for local operations. The first UGG Markinch Local board was organized in 1949. This board included members local to Markinch as well as the nearby town of Lipton [1]. Notable in 1968 Markinch local Lorne Hehn was brought on to serve as a chairman until 1981 when we was elected as president of the UGG [1]. Born on a local farm, Hern earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture at the University of Saskatchewan in 1958. He returned to farm work for the years after until he was elected and served as a delegate for the Markinch Local in 1967 for a year before being elected as a chairman in 1968 [1,4].
Hern was the youngest on the board and driven. For his 14 years of tenure Hern served the Board with distinction, leading his fellow Directions to select him as company president. As President of the Company Hern had to leave Markinch and move to Winnipeg. It is said he was regretful about leaving his home town, but tried to visit Markinch with his family as much as he could. Hern served as UGG president for nine years [1,4].
The Markinch UGG Local is one of the very few local boards to have a member serve as company president. Throughout its 81 years of operation the UGG has only had 6 presidents and Hern is the only to hail from Markinch [1,3].
Markinch Elevators Today
Documentation of the Markinch grain elevator with Z+F 5010X IMAGER
Today the only grain elevator remaining in Markinch is the United Grain Growers’, originally built and owned by North Star Grain. While the exact fate of all the other elevators is unknown, it has been common for towns across the prairies to lose most of their grain elevators for a variety of reasons. It is estimated that less than a hundred grain elevators remain today, when at the peak of wheat production there would have been more than 5,700 of them across the prairies [5, 6].
Many continue to be lost to cost of upkeep, lack of heritage designation, development, or natural disasters. This is one of reasons why the Markinch elevator was documented by the Capture2Preserv digital heritage research lab at the University of Calgary despite its location in Saskatchewan.
This site is located on Treaty 4 Territory of Southern Alberta, which is the traditional and ancestral territory of the Cree, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota, Lakota, and on the historical Northwest Métis Homeland. We acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We are grateful for the traditional Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are still with us today and those who have gone before us. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those whose territory we reside on or are visiting.
[3] Earl, P. 2019. The Rise and Fall of United Grain Growers: Cooperatives, Market Regulation, and Free Enterprise. University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg.
[5] Garneau, D. 2003. After the Grain Elevator: Re-Imaging the Prairie Icon. Art Gallery of Prince Albert, Prince Albert, Sask.
[6] Graveland, B. 2024. ‘Icons of the Prairies’: One Alberta Man’s Quest to Preserve Nanton’s Grain Elevators. Global News June 23. Electronic document, https://globalnews.ca/news/10583329/nanton-alberta-grain-elevator-restoration/, accessed June 28, 2024.
This photo gallery contains historic and modern photos of the Markinch grain elevator. Modern photos are from Capture2Preserve project during digital documentation on June 7 and 8, 2024.
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