Dauphin Canadian National Railway Station

The Dauphin Canadian National

Railway (CNR) Station, a 2 1/2 -storey red brick and limestone structure built in 1912, stands as a focal

point near Dauphin's business core alongside an east-west rail line and a park that links east to

the city's Main Street. The site's provincial designation applies to the structure and the

large parcel of land on which it sits.

The impressive Dauphin CNR

Station, with its picturesque roofline, turrets and decorative brick- and stonework, is one of Manitoba's

finest pieces of railway architecture. Built by the Canadian Northern Railway, the specially designed

facility, the company's only First Class rural station in Manitoba, reflects Dauphin's importance

as a divisional point in the rail network and as a business centre and immigration gateway in west-central

Manitoba. Rehabilitated for office and museum use in 1998, the robust structure continues to be a hub

of local activity. Visually striking as a result of its placement, size, design and brick construction,

the station is a remarkable focal point in the community and an important local landmark.

Source: Manitoba

Heritage Council Minutes, September 6, 1984

Key elements that define the heritage character of the landmark Dauphin CNR Station

site include:

- its highly visible location at the top of 1st Street NW, placement on the north side

of the railway track, aligned east-west and extensive landscaped grounds

Key exterior elements that

define the heritage character of the station's style and construction include:

- the building's

impressive scale reinforced by its dramatic red brick facades with contrasting limestone trim and the

tiered symmetry of its high centre block

- the strong horizontal massing and lines created by the elongated

rectangular plan, the first storey's shallow hip roof, broad overhanging eaves and prominent rusticated

stone base, and the continuous stone stringcourses on the upper levels

- the striking centre block that

rises 1 1/2 storeys above the main floor to a steeply pitched pyramidal roof flanked by one-storey side

wings with gable roofs

- the rhythmic placement and simple design of the many deep wooden brackets, each

springing from a small stone base, and supporting the first-storey eaves on all sides

- the numerous

tall openings on all elevations, including symmetrically placed single and double rectangular-shaped

windows with six- and nine-pane upper sashes, the customary track-side bay window, single and double

doors with transoms, paired round-arched second-floor windows on the north and south elevations, oculi

highlighted by four keystones in the gable ends, etc.

- the wealth of finishes and decorative details,

including the centre block's crenellated brick and stone turrets; the rusticated stone quoins, keystones,

sills, lintels and coping; the tall corbelled brick chimney; metal roof sheathing; painted wood trim;

roof ornaments; wooden rafter tails beneath the eaves of the pyramidal roof; yard-type light fixtures;

etc.

- the limestone pediments on the north and south sides of the pyramidal section, with wheat sheaf

crests incised with 'CNR' and '1912'