Exchange District in Winnipeg, Manitoba — Canada’s Prairie Region (North America)

Exchange Building

1898

— Historic Winnipeg —

Exchange Building Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 16, 2022

1. Exchange Building Marker

Inscription. This building functioned as Winnipeg’s second grain exchange from its completion in 1898 until 1908. It was designed by Samuel Hooper, and constructed for Nicholas Bawlf, the founder of Winnipeg’s first grain and produce exchange. It remains one of the finest works of architecture of the period.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Architecture • Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1898.

Location. 49° 54.015′ N, 97° 8.466′ W. Marker is in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is in the Exchange District. It is on Princess Street just south of Elgin Avenue, on the right when traveling south. Marker is mounted at eye-level on a column at the front entrance of the subject building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 160 Princess Street, Winnipeg MB R3B 1K9, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Manitoba’s Historic Winnipeg.

It is also in the Prairies.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a

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British colony,

the Viceroyalty of New France,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: First Salvation Army Meeting West of the Great Lakes (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); Abraham Albert Heaps (about 120 meters away); Old City Hall (about 120 meters away); The Exchange District / L'Arrondissement de la Bourse (about 150 meters away); Fairchild Building (about 150 meters away); First Headquarters • International Brotherhood of Magicians (about 180 meters away); Union Bank Building (about 210 meters away); Traveller's Block (about 210 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Winnipeg.

Regarding Exchange Building. Canada Register of Historic Places (1979/06/18).

From the Statement of Significance:
Key elements that define the facade's imposing transitional design include:
• its robust, symmetrical form, four storeys high, with a flat roof and deep brick parapet;
• its six bays divided vertically by pilasters and horizontally into two distinct halves of rough-cut buff limestone below and vivid red brick with contrasting limestone
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 16, 2022

2. Exchange Building Marker
(marker mounted on column between front doors)
coping, belt courses and lintels above;
• the Classical articulation of the centre two bays, projected slightly in a pavilion beneath a large raised pediment, and including stone arch and oculi highlights over the fourth-floor windows, the words 'EXCHANGE BUILDING' carved on stone panels, a wrought-iron balcony and stone detailing, etc.

Also see . . .
1. Exchange Building, Canada Register of Historic Places.

The Exchange Building, the second purpose-built home of an important economic institution, the Winnipeg Grain and Produce Exchange, is one of five contiguous pre-1900 facades preserved in situ to represent one of the oldest business streetscapes in the Exchange District National Historic Site of Canada. The structure's grand design by Samuel Hooper also is illustrative of the aesthetic transitions occurring in commercial architecture at the turn of the twentieth century. Its bold, eclectic exterior display of Classical and Romanesque influences was once matched inside by well-appointed offices and a trading floor, all in keeping with the exchange's lofty function and rapid growth as the principal marketplace for prairie
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 16, 2022

3. Exchange Building (east/front elevation)
crops.

(Submitted on February 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

2. Historic Sites of Manitoba: Grain Exchange Building.

A commemorative plaque is mounted on the east façade of 156-160 Princess Street, now part of the Princess Street Campus of Red River College. In 2004, the building (a municipally designated historic site) was recognized with a Heritage Winnipeg Preservation Award.

(Submitted on February 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 15, 2024. It was originally submitted on February 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 191 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on February 1, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.