Shonts Grain Elevator

Grain elevators have been an integral part of the western Canadian landscape for the past century, and this American invention took advantage of the fluid properties of grain and reduced the need for manual labour involved in moving and storing it. The grain elevator at Shonts, Alberta, 400 kilometres northeast of Calgary, was built in 1909 by the Security Elevator Co. of Winnipeg.

This elevator has a capacity of 25,000 bushels, which is less than a quarter of the capacity of many of today’s elevators. The Alberta Wheat Pool eventually purchased the elevator in 1947, and in 1967 donated two-thirds of the cost of its restoration and relocation to Heritage Park.