Manitoba Telephone System Building
121 Main Street
Carberry

Designation Date:  June 12, 2007
Designation Authority:  Town of Carberry
Present Owner:  Town of Carberry

The Manitoba Telephone System Building (also known as the Henry Carroll Law Office), a tidy building in an eye-catching Spanish Colonial Revival style, is a fine representation of the modest-sized exchanges erected by Manitoba Government Telephones in small rural centres in the early 1940s. Based on a standard design also applied to other exchanges throughout Manitoba, the structure is distinguished by its well-defined rectilinear form, many windows and contrasting finishes of light-coloured stucco, red tile and red brick. Built in ca. 1941, its presence recalls the pre-automatic era of telephone technology when human operators were essential to daily communications in their communities, working switching equipment that made local and long-distance calling possible. Still in office use, this facility is a bright and familiar fixture in Carberry’s business district, also a designated historic area.