Schwartz House
245-10th Avenue NW,
Altona

Designation Date: July 12, 1988
Designation Authority: The Town of Altona
Present Owner: Privately owned

The community of Altona developed with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway spur line in 1895. By 1896 the town boasted three grain elevators, nine businesses and a dozen houses. One of those elevators was constructed by John Schwartz, a pioneer businessman who had farmed in the area for a few years. Schwartz also built elevators in nearby Horndean and in Waldeck, Saskatchewan, and had lumber interests as well. By 1902 the Schwartz family was comfortable enough to begin building this house, for many years the largest in town. The building is an exceptional design, with its complex roof shape, extended entrance bays and various wooden details, like the long brackets at the roof line.