Field Trip

Field Trip: The Pontypool Grain Elevator

by Adam Peltenburg

On September 12th, 2026, the Manvers Township Historical Society opened its new museum inside the railway grain elevator in Pontypool, Ontario, located just east of the Greater Toronto Area along Highway 35. The elevator stands alongside the CPKC Havelock Subdivision, a railway line that opened in 1884 and for a time provided the most direct rail connection between Toronto and Ottawa – a topic worthy of a future post. Grain elevators were once a common sight along the line, but most have since disappeared. Today, only three survive: Pontypool, Claremont and Indian River. Pontypool’s elevator is the newest of the three, but is also the best preserved thanks to years of work by local volunteers.

  • A pair of Ford Model T’s are parked in front of the elevator on its opening day. Those autos are about the same age as the elevator!
  • More Model T’s are lined up east of the elevator.
  • The tracks behind the elevator are still actively used today.

The story of the present elevator begins with the destruction of its predecessors. On June 11th, 1918, Pontypool’s original pair of grain elevators were struck by lightning and destroyed by fire. The blaze also spread to two wooden boxcars loaded with grain on the adjacent track, requiring several other cars to be pushed to safety by hand. Later that same year, the Good Grain Company of Toronto constructed the elevator that stands today. It narrowly escaped the fate of its predecessors when it, too, was struck by lightning in the mid-1940s. A lightning rod was installed shortly after to reduce future risk. The elevator faced a new threat in the 1970’s when Canadian Pacific considered demolishing both it and the nearby railway station, which dated back to the opening of the line in 1884. The station was ultimately lost, but local volunteers succeeded in preserving the grain elevator. Decades of preservation and restoration work have now culminated in its new life as a museum.

Written by Adam Peltenburg

References

The Toronto Daily Mail. 1884. “The Line Between Toronto and Montreal Opened.” August 12, 1884. https://books.google.ca/books?id=p-NMAAAAIBAJ&lpg=PA5&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false.

The Weekly Ontario and Bay of Quinte Chronicle. 1918. “Pontypool, June 12.” June 20, 1918. https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00004_19180620/9.