Other Names:
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Independent Grain Co. (1929) Grain Elevator
Independent Grain Co. Grain Elevator
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Pioneer Grain Co. Grain Elevator, built in Nanton in 1929, is a typical wood-cribbed grain elevator with a balloon annex. It is a tall, sheet metal-clad, mostly windowless structure with a gable-roofed cupola. A shed-roofed driveway with a shed-roofed office is attached to the east side, a wooden balloon annex is located immediately to the north and a long, narrow former coal storage shed is situated a few metres to the south. All of the structures are painted in an orange shade and the elevator has yellow roofs, characteristic of Pioneer’s grain elevators after 1962. The grain elevator is located alongside the former railway right-of-way on the east side of the town of Nanton.
Heritage Value
The Pioneer Grain Co. Grain Elevator is significant for its association with the Pioneer Grain Co.; as an example of a collection of once common, but now rare types of grain handling structures; for its role in the economic and social economies of rural Alberta; and for its iconic and symbolic status.
The Pioneer Grain Co. grain elevator in Nanton was acquired in 1954 by the Pioneer Grain Co, which is Canada’s most significant privately owned grain company. Established in 1913, Pioneer grew rapidly across western Canada by building its own grain elevators and by absorbing many smaller rivals, including the Independent Grain Co., which had built the Nanton elevator in 1929. Although Pioneer never equalled the farmer-owned co-operative elevator companies in size, it successfully competed alongside them, becoming Canada’s largest private grain elevator company by 1972. While all grain elevators were seen as landmarks, Pioneer’s elevators particularly stood out due to their distinctive orange paint scheme and bright yellow roofs, which were applied to the company’s elevators after 1962.
The Pioneer Grain Co. grain elevator represents a collection of structures associated with the handling, storage and transportation of grain. The elevator itself is typical, being vertically oriented and of wood-cribbed construction, giving it the volume, durability and the structural strength necessary for holding tonnes of grain. Like most grain elevators, an associated office and shed-roofed driveway with large doors is attached to the east side. The driveway on this elevator was upgraded, likely in the 1960s or 1970s, to accommodate larger grain trucks, reflecting the evolution of farming equipment. A balloon annex, likely built in the 1950s, is located to the elevator’s north. Simply but solidly built and reinforced internally for strength, balloon annexes were a relatively easy way for elevator companies to expand capacity of older facilities without the necessity of constructing a new elevator. Also associated with the grain elevator is a small gable-roofed coal shed to the south. Coal sheds were built by railway and grain elevator companies to allow flammable materials, such as coal and other fuels, to be stored close to, but physically separate from the wooden grain elevators.
Nanton’s Pioneer Grain Co. elevator provides structural evidence of the role grain elevators played in the economic and social life of their communities. As depots for farmers to deliver their produce for storage and eventual transfer by rail to markets, grain elevators were often hubs of social activity, where grain producers would meet with grain elevator agents and other producers to do business and to discuss other matters pertinent to rural and small town life. These commercial and social transactions took place at over a thousand grain elevators built throughout the province.
The central role of grain elevators in rural Alberta life is echoed in their physical appearance and their symbolic place in the psyche of Albertans. Grain elevators like the Pioneer Grain Co. elevator have become seen as icons of the western Canadian landscape, representing the region’s social and economic connections to agricultural life. Their tall and imposing silhouettes provide a striking contrast to the wide Prairie horizon and are visible from a great distance, marking the locations of communities and rail facilities and linking agricultural producers to their region’s social and economic centres. Starting in the 1980s, changes in technology and the operations of grain handling companies resulted in hundreds of older, wood-cribbed elevators being closed and torn down. The loss of these grain elevators echoed concerns through Alberta’s agricultural sector about a perceived decline of the province’s farms and agricultural way of life.
Source: Alberta Culture and Status of Women, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: DES 2213)
Character-Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage value of the Pioneer Grain Co. Grain Elevator at Nanton include its:
Grain Elevator
Wood cribbed construction;
Iconic profile formed by its vertical orientation, gable roof with gable-roofed cupola;
Modernized driveway with combination gable and shed roofs, attached to the east side of the elevator, accessed by concrete and earth ramps and overhead doors;
Small office attached to the east side of the driveway;
Metal cladding on the exterior walls of the elevator, driveway and office and metal clad roof on the elevator, driveway and office;
Typical, post-1962 Pioneer Grain Co. colour scheme (orange with yellow roofs);
Town name (NANTON) painted on the east, south and west sides of the elevator;
Extant exterior augers, metal access stairs and grain handling equipment from the elevator to annex, track side and road side;
Small loading area on the track side of the elevator;
Minimal overall fenestration; and
Presence of grain distribution machinery, including scale, pulleys, drive belts, scale, delivery bin, leg with cups, gerber spouts, hopper and bins for grain storage.
Annex
Location to the immediate north of the elevator;
Clapboard-clad wood frame construction with walers and interior grids of steel reinforcement rods;
Gable roof with small cupola; and
Concrete foundation.
Coal Shed
Location slightly to the southwest of the grain elevator;
Physical separation from the grain elevator;
Long narrow footprint;
Gable roof with cedar shingles;
Wood frame construction with exterior drop siding and shiplap interior sheathing; and
three plywood sliding doors on the west and east sides.
General and Landscape
location alongside the now abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway line and yard on the east side of the town;
Remnants of the rail siding and other concrete footings and equipment on the track side of the elevator; and
Two large circular, concrete foundations showing the location of earlier grain silos/annexes.
Location