Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company Building

The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company Building was constructed in 1901 as the main office for what was to become one of Canada’s largest property and casualty insurers.

Established in 1896 by Alonzo Kempton and Charles Kerr, with the support of local farmers, Wawanesa Mutual now maintains its Executive Offices in Winnipeg and has branches across Canada and in the United States. The company still maintains its Head Office in Wawanesa, in a building constructed across the street in 1930, and continues to be a mainstay of the Wawanesa-area economy. The community proudly hosts the Annual Meeting of its Board of Directors.

The original small building of 1901, with its 1907 addition, is a typical representative example of an early twentieth-century rural commercial building. The structure’s confident facade, simple but detailed brickwork, and corner location reflect both the optimism of the company’s early officers, as well as the practical instincts that allowed them to grow and prosper over the succeeding century.

L’édifice de la compagnie mutuelle d’assurance Wawanesa a été construit en 1901 comme bureau principal de ce qui allait devenir l’une des plus importantes compagnies d’assurance dommages du Canada.

Établie en 1896 par Alonzo Kempton et Charles Kerr, avec l’appui des agriculteurs de la région, la compagnie mutuelle d’assurance Wawanesa a maintenant ses bureaux de la haute direction à Winnipeg ainsi que des succursales dans l’ensemble du Canada et aux États-Unis. La compagnie a toujours son siège social à Wawanesa, dans un édifice construit de l’autre côté de la rue en 1930, et continue d’être un soutien principal de l’économie de la région de Wawanesa. La communauté accueille avec fierté l’assemblée générale annuelle du conseil d’administration de la compagnie.