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Call Number: Mss 127, Pc 136, Mc 17 (A.94-55)
Title: North-West Line Elevators Association fonds.
Dates: 1899-1985.
Extent: 6.12 m of textual records and other material.
Administrative history: North-West Line Elevators was first organized by the Manitoba Elevator Operators in 1899 under the name North-West Elevator Association. The membership included twenty-four companies or individuals representing 272 country elevators. In 1904, the Association was incorporated by a special act of the Manitoba Legislature under the name of the North-West Grain Dealers Association. The membership had increased threefold to include 95 companies or individuals representing 780 elevators. John Love was the first president of the newly incorporated Association. The first ten years were marked by rapid expansion. By 1910, the membership had risen to 164 companies or individuals, with the number of elevators practically doubling to 1500. Five years later, 30 more companies had come on board, with the number of elevators growing to 2900. Through amalgamation of some of the smaller companies the roster declined to 101 companies in 1925 but the number of elevators increased to 3741. During the Depression in 1935, the membership declined to 55 companies but still managed to represent 3345 elevators. In 1937, the Manitoba Legislature amended the Association's capital stock set up. In 1940, the company changed its name to the North-West Line Elevators Association. The Association lobbied for preferable rail rates for shipping. They attempted to block line abandonments by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railway. The Farm Service side of the Association performed grain research through its demonstration plots and seed testing laboratory. At its peak, the Association covered elevators spanning the Prairie Provinces and Thunder Bay and represented the interests of most of the leading grain companies in Western Canada. The company still had an administrative board in 1992 but two years later it had come under control of N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd. and is now dormant.
Custodial history: The fonds was donated to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by Andrew B. Paterson in 1994.
Scope and content: The fonds consists of seven series: corporate records, public relations, financial records, legal records, operational records, maps (MC 17), and photographs (PC 136). The map collection consists of 17 maps. The photograph collection includes 111 photographs, 13 slides, and 1 film.
Source of supplied title: Title based on contents of fonds.
Restrictions: There are no restrictions on this material.
Accruals: No further accruals are expected.
Finding aid: A printed finding aid is available in the Archives' reading room and an on-line finding aid is available at the link below:
MSS 127, PC 136, MC 17 (A.94-55)
We greatly acknowledge the financial support of the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism and the Heritage Grants Advisory Council in the creation of this finding aid.