By the turn of the 20th century, Hamilton, Ontario was home to nearly 200 factories, and by 1913 over 400 industries. Niagara Falls provided cheap power. Hamilton's excellent natural harbour and the Welland Canal made shipping on the Great Lakes easy. Rail connected the city to everywhere else. Proximity to the United States made Hamilton the preferred site for the branch plants of American companies. All this came together to make Hamilton Canada's industrial powerhouse. Although Hamilton came to be known as Steeltown, it has always had a diverse industrial base: oil refineries and chemical plants, food processing, clothing and textiles, various consumer goods, automobiles, tires, farm implements, glass, rail cars, distilleries, appliances, steel products and more.
This doesn't show all the old factories, but there are quite a few impressive ones. Sadly, but not surprisingly, few of these old factories survive today.
These photos come from this 1913 directory:
Although there were many large Hamilton based firms, Canada's status as a "branch plant" economy is evident.
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Awesome stuff. Out of all those pictures, I could only recognize two buildings that still exist today (National Steel Car and Imperial Cotton). Pretty sad. At least NSC is still operating just like it was when that picture was taken.
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"Above all, Hamilton must learn to think like a city, not a suburban hybrid where residents drive everywhere. What makes Hamilton interesting is the fact it's a city. The sprawl that surrounds it, which can be found all over North America, is running out of time."
Awesome stuff. Out of all those pictures, I could only recognize two buildings that still exist today (National Steel Car and Imperial Cotton). Pretty sad. At least NSC is still operating just like it was when that picture was taken.
There are some others, often just part of the plant remains or sometimes they've been extensively modified. At least, I think I recognize some.
If I had arrived in Hamilton just a few years earlier, I would have been able to see few more of these.
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I think Westinghouse old property is now where the Siemens factory is now located.
No clue where International Harvester factory used to be, it looks huge. From the picture is looks near the waterfront so it must be where either Stelco or Dofasco is now located.
That's a picture of International Harvester. Kinda creepy seeing that. Right now that land is all Stelco - Hamilton Works. You can actually see grass and trees.
That's a picture of International Harvester. Kinda creepy seeing that. Right now that land is all Stelco - Hamilton Works. You can actually see grass and trees.
it was expanded after that picture. I believe parts of the plant were just demolished a few years ago. I'm not sure, but I think some remnants can be seen at the very north end of Hillyard St.
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No clue where International Harvester factory used to be, it looks huge. From the picture is looks near the waterfront so it must be where either Stelco or Dofasco is now located.
I think it was north of Burlington Street, between Hillyard Street and Wilcox Street
thanks for the history lesson... truly the workhorse for expanding Canada.
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"The destructive effects of automobiles are much less a cause than a symptom of our incompetence at city building" - Jane Jacobs 1961ish
This is a later factory, built 1941 as a weapons factory, then became a Studebaker auto assemlby plant. The Studebaker plant closed in 1966 and the building has been used for various things since then.
If you look really closely at this pano, you can see a few really old factory buildings here and there.
CLICK TO ENLARGE
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International Harvester was at the foot of Hillyard Street. It stretched from roughly just West of the foot of Sherman to about Wentworth St. The larger warehouses were indeed demolished a few years ago. I explored a few of the warehouses while they were tearing them down, but I don't really remember anything about them aside from the fact that they were absolutely immense in size. The land is now mostly scrap yards, McKeil Marine or other marine related usage.
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"Above all, Hamilton must learn to think like a city, not a suburban hybrid where residents drive everywhere. What makes Hamilton interesting is the fact it's a city. The sprawl that surrounds it, which can be found all over North America, is running out of time."
Also a rather crappy shot showing a bit of the oldest NSC warehouse. It's at the bottom right.
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"Above all, Hamilton must learn to think like a city, not a suburban hybrid where residents drive everywhere. What makes Hamilton interesting is the fact it's a city. The sprawl that surrounds it, which can be found all over North America, is running out of time."