The last Prairie sentinel in the village of Mortlach is being torn down by a contractor.
The Paterson Company wooden crib grain elevator was recently closed and scheduled for demolition. Built around 1916 at the peak of Mortlach’s population of 700 the elevator had served local farmers for 103 years but fell victim to a company strategy of large concrete elevators.
Mortlach had six grain elevator companies in 1930. By the 1970s there were only three. The United Grain Grower unit closed after the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool acquired UGG. The pool elevator was demolished in 2010.
The demolition contractor posted $20,000 to ensure clean-up of the site.
The wooden crib elevator, once the landmark for towns, has lost ground to concrete terminals. About 2,000 of the wooden crib structures used to operate in Saskatchewan.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
