in 1911 an act was passed by the Manitoba Government incorporating the Public Markets Ltd. The plan was to furnish Manitoba livestock producers with a market-place, in an area where there was a need for selling and handling facilities to accommodate a growing industry. The two National railways financed and developed a 137 acre site purchased by the City of Winnipeg that was referred to in the land title records as the 'Roman Catholic Mission Property'. On August 14, 1913 the Marion Street facility with its stockyards and packing house was officially opened by Premier Sir Rodmond Roblin. For the next seventy-five years, the Union Stock Yards not only provided the City of St. Boniface with its largest single source employers but became a vital cog in Manitoba's agricultural economy.

The livestock business in Manitoba owes its origins to the great cattle drives in the Southwestern United States. The Dodge City / Western Trail led up into Alberta where it hooked up with the newly completed

In 1925 Canada Packers opened a meat processing plant next to the yard, thirteen years later they were joined by Swifts. The Second World War brought unprecedented growth to the packing industry as Canada supplied meat for the troops overseas. The yards represented a large cross-section of livestock interests. Within its structure were numerous salesmen, buyers, producers and employees of the trade and yard company. The Canada Department of Agriculture also provided two essential services. Veterinarians performed health inspections and a daily market report was prepared to inform the industry on livestock values and prices. Truck and brand inspections were carried out by representatives of the provincial governments. The market had its own Livestock Exchange to supervise trading, its membership included buyers for all kinds of stock as well as bonded commission firms and dealers.

The livestock received and sold at Union Stock Yards came from all three prairie provinces, destined for either the local market, Eastern Canada, or, under favorable exchange and trading conditions, the United States. The principal requirement locally was to provide slaughter cattle for the processing plants. however under good weather and feed conditions there was a significant turnover of cattle back into the Manitoba feed lots for finishing. The Eastern Canada market was constant year round with upwards of 300,000 cattle and calves shipped annually. The yard was also the largest exporter of feeder cattle in Canada with steady sales to Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Failure to keep up with technological advancements and the advent of refrigerated trucks conspired to end Union Stock Yards dominance of the industry. Trucks took over as the principal means of beef shipping with the completion of the Trans Canada Highway in 1955. The meat packing industry began to move closer to the source of its product as plants in Alberta supplanted Winnipeg processors. Manitoba hog processing still remains a viable industry but the Union Stock Yards, Canada Packers and Swifts beef processing plants had outlived their usefulness by 1990.

Pictures & historical write-up courtesy of Archives of the Agricultural Experience: University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections, the Libraries

The Public Markets is one of my favorite buildings and area in Winnipeg as it sits decaying in its humble glory from a rich economic and ethnic past. I first came across this site in the winter of 2003 and have continually visited it since just to see the amazing decay and to imagine what it must have looked like when it was in operation. The basement is an amazing site as it appears as if a bomb had gone off. I was amazed to see that walls bent at 45 degree angles still stood and the massive piles of bricks and other materials gave the impression on me as if a war had been fought in there. The bathroom has only two intact walls left and shows an amazing resilience despite the fact that most of it is gone. The stall doors which are of the saloon type are made of real wood are still intact and brought me some brief awe. From the bathroom I proceeded down the hallway to find another large room and a beautiful wooden bench that was not rotten or damaged at all. Being amazed at the woodworking quality on such a bench I sat on it and had a break as this place was amazing. Resting my head against what was left of a wall I noticed that the ceiling had minor fire damage on it and that paint was peeling everywhere. After resting I proceeded into the large room that contained two interesting items, a large safe and two books of railroad rules. Both were interesting and I took my time examining both before moving up to the first floor. I hadn't paid much attention to the stairway while I passed it for the first time and I am still not sure of how I did this as it is astounding. Everything about the stairway screams decay from the debris choked stairs to the rusting and peeling handrails and ornaments. Coming off the stairway on the first floor my jaw dropped once again at the sight of the large public entrance. From the front entrance (which is directly in front of the stairway) two hallways run east and west to the various rooms that once held the offices and administration for the Public Markets. I chose to follow the east hallway first and was lead to a large room containing a lot of intact but damaged woodworking and appeared from the layout to be a main office area for the public used by receptionists and foreman to pick up orders etc. After trying to imagine what went on in this room I proceeded down the larger and longer west hallway that spanned into the newer addition. There are so many rooms in this hallway it is impossible for me to describe everyone but each is unique in its own way and has various amounts of artifacts in the way of papers and wood working. The west hallway was amazing and severely decayed and it was interesting to see how the construction methods and architecture changed from the older building to the newer addition. In the older section walls were made of plaster and  was much higher, about 15 feet from the floor to the top of the ceiling decaying gracefully due to the fact that vandals could not kick through it. The newer addition however was made of cheaper products such as drywall and was much more vandalized and sported a smaller height. Nearing the end of the hallway I began to see fake Christmas tree leaves scattered everywhere and it intrigued me as to what it was from. My answer came at the end of the hallway in a room that appeared to be an employee break room where a Christmas Tree stand stood bare, raped by the vandals who frequent this building. There wasn't much to see so I proceed up the stairway to the second floor where the floor plans are nearly exactly the same with only slight alterations to the rooms and the fact that there is a bathroom on the floor. It was quite boring to go through the second floor until I found the records room. In this room are literally documents spanning more than fifty years ranging from financial records to insurance slips and cattle reports. All of these documents kept me busy for more than an hour and it was interesting to see how the Public Markets lost more money with every passing year from the late 1970's onward. Sadly however, these documents are being destroyed by vandals whom are stealing and attempting to set a fire to the papers. What makes this building unique and stand out most in my mind however is the third floor which has been gutted by fire but still remains although in a highly decayed state. As I went up the stairs (which I could not find underneath the massive amount of debris on top of it) the moonlight illuminated the way and allowed me to turn my flashlight off. It was amazing to be outside in the elements yet still "inside" of the building surrounded by blackened and hole filled walls while sitting on what used to be the roof. As I walked around I noticed that there was a private bathroom (that was filled with charred wreckage) on this floor leading me to the conclusion that this must have been for the head boss. The view over the Public Markets was amazing and I brought out my supper and watched over the former stock yards to imagine what it must have been like to see over 10,000 head of cattle packed into this tight parcel of land. As I lay down on the roof I realized how much nature had taken over this building when I saw that a six foot tree and marsh (complete with Bull Rushes) were flourishing on the roof. Getting tired, I decided to call it a night and head out, the only problem being that a security guard was sitting outside of the building, most likely waiting for me to come out. I decided that it was best to sacrifice my pride and appear to walk out from the nearby pornography store to the car so as not to arouse his suspicions. It worked thankfully as I drove home I was grateful because the next day my family and I were traveling to Alberta for spring break.

Administrative Building

Former Cattle Yards