Wawanesa
Mutual Insurance
Company Building
(Sipiweske Museum)
102-4th Street,
Wawanesa

Designation Date: March 11, 1991
Designation Authority: The Village of Wawanesa
Present Owner: The Village of Wawanesa

The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company was created in 1896, providing farmers in the Wawanesa area with their own insurance company, one that charged lower premiums than a regular Insurance Board company. Alonzo Fowler Kempton, Wawanesa Mutual's founder, began the operation by insuring straw-burning threshing machines. Over the years, Wawanesa Mutual has grown to become the second largest Canadian-owned insurance company in the country.

The Mutual's first office building was constructed shortly after 1900 and is a fitting symbol for the firm: a solid brick building without unnecessary detail. That structure was vacated for new quarters across the street, but the original building has been preserved and today houses the collection of the Sipiweske Museum.