Key Number:	HS 38505
Site Name:	Sharples - Parrish & Heimbecker Grain Elevator Limited
Other Names:
Site Type:	0416 - Mercantile/Commercial: Storage Elevator

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			29	22	4

Address:	N/A
Number:	N/A
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Sharples
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Single Wood Elevator & Cribbed Annex(es)
Plan Shape:	Square
Storeys:	Basement: Partial Below Ground Level
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Stone
Superstructure:	Wood Cribbing
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Elevator: Gable on Gable, Medium Cupola
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Fascia Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Wood Roof Trim - Verges: Plain Fascia Roof Trim Material - Verges: Wood Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Number of Sashes: Two, Double Hung Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Opening Mechanism: Fixed Window - Pane Arrangements: 6 over 6 Elevator: Water Shed Skirting: Wood Elevator: Logo: Parrish & Heimbecker Elevator: Paint Colour: White Elevator: Loading Spout: Box Car Elevator: Loading Spout: Hopper Car Elevator: Driveway Door: Sliding Door: Double Board & Batten Elevator: Driveway: Heightened Driveway Elevator: Driveway: Upgraded Driveway Elevator: Driveway: Earth Ramp Elevator: Associated Buildings: Outhouse & Storage Elevator: Associated Buildings: Office Elevator: Associated Buildings: Annex Elevator: Associated Buildings: Outbuilding
Exterior:	Window on S facade above loading platform; single door onto loading platform.
Interior:	Elevator details: Small wooden 12' leg with 5 x 11 cups. Wheel & cable used on work house floor to direct gerber spout in cupola. Elevator contains 18 to 21 bins. Wooden manlift. Driveway scale is a 19 foot 12 ton model from Fairbanks in Calgary. The scale for the receiving hopper is a Fairbanks with a 200 lb sliding scale beam. (For photos of the two beam balancses see HSS 97-R201-19a & 20a). Truck loading spout over driveway.
Environment:	Assocated buildings: Elevator office (78721); outhouse/storage (78722); barn (78723); annex (78720). Located on bluff above river in valley on abandoned rail line from Acme to Drumheller.
Condition:	Fair (1997)
Alterations:	The elevator has a high degree of integrity both in structural and mechanical detail. The driveway superstructure has had some alteration on the west end involving a heightening of the roof to allow larger trucks to hoist their boxes. Air compressor fro a Magrath 60' tilting air dump, 250 lb gauge, still in place. Taps for operation mounted on beam of driveway scale. This mechanism was likely installed by the late 1920s. A 15 H.P. gasoline fairbankds Z engine, probably not the original engine of 1923, was replaced with a 10 H.P. electric motor sometime after 1950.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed	1923/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Elevator - grain storage	1923/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd. Private individual	1923/01/01 1982/01/01

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	Parrish & Heimbecker Ltd.
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	This elevator was built on a siding at Sharples in 1923, the year the CPR built a spur line through the spectacular badlands Knee Hills Creek Valley from Acme to Drumheller via Carbon and Sharlpless. The town of Carbon remains as does the skeleton of the former hamlet of Hesketh, although the elevators have been long demolished at the latter point. Only Kirkpatrick remains to the east and south on this line. The stations along this rail line were essential to farmers who lived on the north side of the creek, as the only crossing points are a long way apart. The line closed in 1982 when the second elevator at Sharples owned by Alberta Wheat Pool, built in 1927 by Alberta Pacific Grain Co., was demolished. Although Sharples only had two elevators for many years it handled a remarkable volume of grain. In 1943-44 the Parrish & Heimbecker elevator handled 123,549 bushes. The names of the elevator agents at Sharples from 1923-1982 are: Tom Heath, H.J. Reeves, Tom Moss? Stoen, D.K. Edmundson, T.G. Cadman, W.B. McCracken, W.C. Robertson. No information is known about the construction crew. The 30,000 bushel elevator appears to have been clad with metal sheeting when it was constructed in 1923, as were the office and outhouse/storage, built at the same time. The west annex built c.1939-40 has a 26,000 bushel capacity and contains seven bins. It was probably built as a temporary annex during the war and later licenced as a permanent annex. A second annex was located on the east side. It was smaller, with a capacity of 14,000 bushels. This annex was also built in the early 1940s. The connecting pipe between the elevator and this annex is still in place.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
(not assigned)

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: