Manitoba Municipal Heritage Site No. 332

 

Former Miami Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Station
Former Station Grounds
Miami

Former Miami Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Station

Designation Date:  April 23, 2008
Designation Authority:  R.M. of Thompson
Present Owner:  Privately Owned

The Former Miami Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway Station, of sober proportions, aesthetics and materials, emphasizing efficiency and economy, is the oldest intact rail station in Manitoba situated in its original setting. Built in 1889, the stout wood-frame complex also is one of just a few facilities that remain to mark the role of the Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway, offshoot of an American line, as an early challenger to the Canadian Pacific Railway’s monopoly in southern Manitoba. The compact 1889 section is a fine and rare variant of a standardized Northern Pacific combined depot-residence plan, the only one of its type to survive of three built by the company in the province. Its distinguishing features—abruptly truncated sides, high hipped gable roof, an observation bay that pierces the roof to become a faceted dormer—are complemented by the hip-roofed freight shed erected by Northern Pacific’s successor, the Canadian Northern Railway. In service until 1973 and now a railway museum, this station remains visually prominent in Miami and is a stalwart symbol of the vital contributions of early rail transport to the area’s economic and social development.

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