Description of Historic Place

Situated alongside railway tracks that were once Strathclair's lifeblood, the Strathclair Museum consists of the Manitoba and Northwestern (M and NW) Railway Station and the attached St. George's Anglican Church. The station is a no-frills wooden structure built in 1900 that faces onto the town's Main Street. The Anglican church, which was moved onto the site, is a typical modest Gothic Revival building dating from 1913. The municipal designation applies to the railway station, church building and the grassed lot upon which they sit.

Heritage Value

The two historic buildings that comprise the Strathclair Museum are typical examples of the architectural character provided to common public buildings from the turn of the twentieth century. The Strathclair M and NW Railway Station is representative of dozens of similar facilities that appeared in small centres as rail lines were rapidly extending throughout southern Manitoba in the early 1900s. Built by the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway Co. from a standard plan, and later operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), this combined station-residence is modest in size and appointments, with reserved massing, an uncomplicated plan and minimal ornamentation. It nonetheless has served as an economic, physical and social hub in Strathclair, and as a symbol of civic pride. St. George's Anglican Church, with its modest size, wood frame construction and basic Gothic Revival appointments, inside and out, recalls the simple faith and limited resources that attended religious life in rural communities in the area.

Source: Rural Municipality of Strathclair By-law No. 3-2003, April 9, 2003

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the site's heritage character include:
- the location of the buildings on an open grassed lot situated between Strathclair's Main Street to the north and the CPR mainline to the south

M and NW Railway Station

Key elements that define the railway station's external utilitarian character, as restored to M and NW Railway Co. specifications, include:
- the simple wood-frame structure, with the long rectangular freight shed, one storey in height with a gable roof, set at right angles to the two-storey, box-like office and residence with a hip-gable roof
- the horizontal siding painted beige with maroon trim at corners and around windows and doors
- the functional placement and types of openings, including: the large sliding wooden door in the north elevation of the freight shed; the simple, centrally placed waiting room door flanked by double-hung windows; the rectangular north bay with a shed roof and tall windows on all three sides; single double-hung windows delineating the residence, with a wood and glass door with glass transom on the west facade servicing this area; etc.


Key interior elements that define the station's functions include:
- the spacious formal plan, sensitively marrying a freight shed, central waiting room, station agent's office and private residence
- the straightforward treatment of the public and service zones, characterized by the large unobstructed expanse and exposed trusses of the freight shed, the basic wainscotting, wooden door and window trim in the waiting room and agent's office, and the no-nonsense furnishings, including wooden ticket and service counters and chalkboard to display schedules
- the practical residential zones, including spacious living and dining areas tucked behind the waiting room on the main floor and three bedrooms and a nursery upstairs, all minimally finished with hardwood floors and wainscotting

St. George's Anglican Church

Key elements that define the church's modest external character include:
- the simple box-like form and small entry porch, with both sections covered by gable roofs of medium pitch
- the pointed arched windows along the main body of the church and large pointed arched window on the south face, all with basic Gothic Revival tracery
- the wooden siding painted white with trim and corner boards painted in a darker contrasting colour

Key interior elements that define the church's heritage character include:
- the unobstructed nave space with a slightly raised chancel area and unpainted walls of wooden horizontal siding
- the placement of wooden chairs of simple design in the body of the church