10/14/2026
An era is ending on Owen Sound's harbour: after 101 years of operation, Owen Sound's grain elevator will shut its doors in December.
The elevator was built in 1925, restoring Owen Sound's involvement in the grain trade. Access to grain shipments had been disrupted when the original Canadian Pacific Railway Elevators burned down in 1911. It was built with a capacity of 1 million bushels, but had to be expanded twice to meet demand. The elevator has been owned by Parrish & Heimbecker since the 1950s.
Despite the decline of the grain trade on Georgian Bay, the Owen Sound elevator continued to see use as most others closed. Marine shipments were sustained primarily by the presence of a Parrish & Heimbecker mill in Hanover.
Open or closed, the Owen Sound grain elevator's century of operation will continue to be a celebrated part of local history.
