
Hepburn’s historic 1928 Saskatchewan Wheat Pool elevator is one of the oldest surviving structures of its kind in western Canada.
And thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers, the slope-shouldered, 35,000-bushel capacity elevator welcomes hundreds of visitors from across Canada through its doors every summer, providing a unique glimpse into the history of grain farming on the prairies. The museum is open every Saturday from Victoria Day to Labour Day,
In early November, the Hepburn Museum of Wheat Committee held its annual fall fundraising banquet. This year, the event drew a record crowd of 175 people.

The silent and live auction, bake sale, 50-50 draw and other related activities raised a total of $6,500. That money will be used to fix and rebuild the lights and the doors on the drive-through area of the elevator, according to Hepburn Museum of Wheat Committee President Dirk van Kuik.
The museum tells the story of the production, marketing and transportation of wheat, with a focus on how farmers worked cooperatively to strengthen their marketing clout throughout the 20th century.
The elevator and surrounding grounds were designated a Municipal Heritage Property by the provincial government in 1991, shortly after the last train passed through the town and the railway branch line was removed. In addition to the elevator, the grounds are also home to a restored schoolhouse and the recently-constructed Centennial Gazebo. Every fall, a threshing demonstration takes place to show how harvest was done using threshing machines.
In the 1990s, area farmers and town residents worked hard to prevent the elevator from being demolished like hundreds of others across the prairies. Their vision was to keep the structure, and all the machinery inside, in working condition to demonstrate to future generations how it operated.
They chose the name, ‘The Museum of Wheat’, because the history of Saskatchewan over the last 150 years is really the story of how that crop provided the foundation for settlement and progress.
Elevators were the critical link in transferring grain from the farm to the railway. In the late 1800s, farmers shovelled their grain into two-bushel sacks, which they then transported to loading platforms at the nearest rail line and emptied into waiting boxcars. It was a back-breaking and time-consuming job.

To encourage efficiency, the railways offered grain companies free land rental to build standard 25,000-35,000 bushel elevators. These vertical grain storage warehouses used a mechanism called a ‘leg’ – a steam-driven or gas-powered endless belt with cups or scoops attached, to elevate the grain; and then employed gravity to empty the grain into separate bins. It was the ‘leg’ mechanism which gave grain elevators their name and determined their iconic architectural shape.
Elevators were built in locations determined by the railways – usually about 7 to 10 miles apart – which was the maximum distance a farmer could travel in horse-drawn wagon per day.
In 1933, there were 5,758 wooden grain elevators, located in towns and villages along thousands of miles of railway branch lines.
Elevators once dominated the prairie skyline.
Even those Canadians who never travelled west of Ontario were familiar with prairie elevators because of the scene on the old Canadian one dollar bill.
Now, there are hardly any.
Which makes those wooden elevators that survive, particularly the ones in working condition, all the more valuable.
“The Museum of Wheat is a real treasure, and we’re fortunate to have this in our community,” said van Kuik. “Thank you to all those donors and corporate sponsors who help the volunteers keep it going.”
The Hepburn Museum of Wheat Board includes: President Dirk van Kuik, Treasurer Bev van Kuik, Secretary Teddi Dear; Members Carter Reddekopp, Dillon Voth, Cecelia Giles, Ruby Wall, Lew Wall, Jake Fehr, Tina Fehr, Morris Pompu, Laura Pompu, Simon Loewen, Darlene Loewen, Linda Peters, Jaccs Aantjes, and Hepburn Town Council representative Neal Mihalicz.
Hepburn is also home to the oldest school in the province that is still operating as a school. The original two-storey brick Hepburn School was built in 1927, and has been expanded over the years. It was designated a Municipal Heritage Property by the province in 1998.