THE PEAVEY STORY
Before the hardware stores, there were grain elevators
Frank H. Peavey opened Peavey Grain in Minneapolis MN in 1874. Peavey was a native of Maine who moved to the Midwest as a young man and became a grain merchant. Basing himself in Minneapolis in 1881, he became known as the "Elevator King", owning elevators across Minnesota and Iowa and expanding into the Dakotas.
Fire was a constant danger to the wooden terminals, and Peavey was determined to lower the skyrocketing insurance rates that resulted from these disasters. He commissioned Minneapolis architect/builder/contractor Charles F. Haglin (1849-1921) to build the Peavey-Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator. The structure was 122 ft. high, its walls are 12 inches thick, the inside diameter is about 20 ft.
It was the first circular grain elevator built of poured concrete in the US and possibly the world. Widely publicized, Peavey and Haglin's cylindrical concrete design was quickly adopted throughout the American Midwest, revolutionizing the grain storage industry.
Peavey’s presence in Canada began in 1906 when Frank H. Peavey’s son-in-law, Frank Heffelfinger, along with Canadian Peavey executives, established the British American Elevator Company in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In 1908, Peavey expanded with the creation of the Security Elevator Company Ltd., which built grain elevators along the newly constructed Grand Trunk Pacific Railway from Fort William, Ontario, to Prince Rupert, British Columbia (now part of the Canadian National Railway). A year later, in 1909, Peavey Canada launched its third elevator company, the National Grain Elevator Company, operating along both Canadian Pacific and Northern rail lines.
Winnipeg-based Northern Elevator Company was established in 1893 through the merger of five smaller companies. By the turn of the 20th century, Northern Elevator operated 92 country elevators. Peavey purchased the Northern Elevator Company in 1909.
In 1940 the Peavey companies were merged to form National Grain Company Limited. Frank Heffelfinger’s son, George Heffelfinger, became president, overseeing more than 400 grain elevators across Canada.
National Grain did not participate in direct overseas selling. An opportunity arose in the late 1960s, when the McCabe Grain Company was dispersed, to acquire the expertise needed to trade internationally.
McCabe Brothers Grain Company was founded in 1889. In the early 20th century, the McCabe’s built grain elevators in Canada and formed the McCabe Elevator Company to operate them. By 1912, the firm had 24 elevators in Canada and it organized the Victoria Elevator Company in 1916 and the Crescent Elevator Company in 1922. All companies were merged to form the McCabe Brothers Grain Company in 1928. It became the publicly-traded McCabe Grain Company in 1946.
McCabe’s feed and seed assets were sold to National Grain in 1967 and sixty eight of its country elevators were sold to United Grain Growers in 1968. The remaining McCabe assets were merged into National Grain Limited in 1971.
In1967, National Grain Company opened the first National Farmway Store in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, adjacent to one of its grain elevators. The plan was to expand these rural retail stores along National’s extensive grain elevator network.
In 1975, Cargill Grain Company, the Canadian subsidiary of American company Cargill Inc., purchased the grain elevators owned by National Grain.
Despite selling off its grain operations, Peavey retained the National Farmway Stores retail division, renaming it Peavey Mart to honour the company’s legacy.
In 1982 Peavey Company was purchased by ConAgra USA. Two years later, ConAgra decided to disband the Peavey Mart chain of stores. Peavey Industries LP was formed by employees to purchase the stores which have operated in Western Canada since then. Unfortunately, the company is closing it’s stores in 2025.
Sources:
Manitoba Historical Society archives
The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
St. Louis Park Historical Society
