J.H. Ashdown Warehouse, now residences, 167 Bannatyne Avenue - architects: S.F. Peters, 1895; J.H.G. Russell, 1899, 1902, 1906, 1908, 1911

Built by Winnipeg’s “Merchant Prince” in 1895, the J.H. Ashdown Warehouse, remains a major urban landmark in the Exchange District. When the first portion of the massive warehouse was built, Ashdown was at the mid-point of an illustrious career that had made him a fortune. He had a major influence on the development of Winnipeg from its incorporation until his death sixty years later.

Starting out in a local tinsmith shop, Ashdown’s business grew along with the settlement. In 1870 he purchased two lots on the corner of Main Street and Bannatyne Avenue, the location of the Ashdown retail store for over one hundred years. Ashdown’s successful real estate speculation, combined with his business acumen, made him a millionaire by 1910.

With his business prospering, Ashdown commissioned architect S. Frank Peters in 1894 to design a warehouse at the corner of Bannatyne and Rorie Street. This location expanded the boundary of the warehouse district, which had been contained west of Main Street. The original warehouse was only three storeys high and five bays wide, built with brick and stone using little ornamentation in a Romanesque style. The building opened in January, 1896 and at some point between 1896 and 1900, the fourth floor was added above the arches.

Ashdown lobbied and successfully obtained a court decision permitting the building of a rail spur line that ensured goods could be delivered as well as shipped directly from his warehouse in boxcars. The spur line attracted other wholesalers to move into the area.

Ashdown’s wholesale enterprise prospered with the settlement in the west and the rapid expansion of the wheat economy. The warehouse was given two additional storeys in 1902 and a three-bay, six storey addition was made to the western end of the building in 1906. In 1911, the final three bays were added to the western side.

Throughout the years Ashdown’s Warehouse supplied every conceivable kind of merchandise, including its own “Diamond A Brand” goods. Ashdown also had small warehouses in Calgary, Saskatoon, Edmonton and Regina. James H. Ashdown died in 1924, but the firm remained a family business until it was sold in 1971.