Elevator No. 5

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Elevator No. 5 was built in stages between 1903 and 1958. The original structure, known as Elevator B, was constructed by Montreal Warehousing Co., a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTRR) to store grain brought in from the prairies and transshipped overseas. Trains from the Lakehead entered the lower portion of the twelve storey structure and emptied their contents through grates in the floor into basement collectors. From there the grain was elevated to the top of the building where it was graded and redistributed into the appropriate bin. Later the grain would be withdrawn from the bottom of the bin. A three storey head house, located on the top of the building was used for weighing and inspecting the grain. A 1 million bushel, 28 bin expansion known as the Annex was completed before WWI.

When the GTRR declared bankruptcy in 1923, the facility was acquired by the Montreal Harbour Commission. Further expansion was undertaken in 1924 and 1928 by which time Montreal had become the world's largest grain exporting port. In 1936, during the Depression, ownership was transferred to the federal National Harbours Board. The final addition to the facility was B-1 which was built in 1958 in anticipation of the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway. Beginning in the 1960s, European demand for Canadian grain declined while increased demand from Asia redirected grain traffic to the Pacific. By 1994 the elevator ceased operation.

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