HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1975-07-24, Page 30• f•
Eas SI* ott ELIO Stregt
tlt the fttlilWalt
F4t1galt EttfUlteee
contfltb0,07S
b3r Oerailld Fremlin
The brick section et the
building,. presently oceeed by
Fabian Furniture was built by
.1081•0 Whitehead as a flour mill
u.s early as 1863,4 being listed in a
Directory for that year althoWith
.nn eye witness_of its constructipn
reported thedate, by recolfee-
te be 1866. It was steam-
pavered from the beginniag, the
engine house being a separate
brick building which still exists.
Like Fair's Mill (sec 66) there.
was an 'excavated pond for
supplying wilier to boiler. This
pond was used as a dump many
years:after it bad ceased serving
its original purpose. and its sad
remains may still he seen just
south of Irwin Street apposite the.
loading dock at the piano factory.
There was alko a cooper shop on
the four -acre bit as well as
!unifier andstave sheds.
The building may have
PPeratedaan flour inii114gi11873;
but this is uncettnin.ln-that ear
whose purpose wasto
it' wreshje.b; Richard lewin
convert it into a pork packing
plant but in fact made it. into a
grain elevator.
By 1878, Mr. Irwin hod added
the large frame annex that faces
• .East Street. With the annex the
, building -had .a capacity of 100.000e
bushels of grain or 250 carteads.
took ten minutes ta load a car.
Mr. Irtfin—had constructed a
mechanisni whichthrough
different.' hoppers. accepted
different types or graio, ttleighed
the grainand elevated it to.
• different 'bins from which it could
be. piped, • to freight cars. The
system was- initially run by
herse'powet-but was later linked
to the Steam engine. either the old
dour Mill engine or a -new en in
1884.
The business consisted qf
buying up local grain. weighing
it, grading it. storing it and
shipping it, mostly for •export --As
prairie grain production M- - After the destruction' by fire of
crease. local production tapered the .. Doherty organ Factory on
tiff and the agriculture of the area Raglan Street in February (see
incliner more towards „ the -71). in 1999 William Doherty •
production .of livestock. Mr. having obtained a $25.000 loan
Irwin left the business about. the from the- town. contracted with
tective.
ROM 1899 to 1902 the Standard
Elevator as it was called, ,was
operated under lease by W.S.
Holmes am!, W.Q. Smyth. In1902
it was leaiieti to P. Urquhart, who
operated an oatmeal mill at '
liensall. and the nature of the
Clinton operation was changed,
Mr. Urquhart installed
machinery for %eking pearl and
.pot barley, split peas-, oatmeal
products. and grain fodder for
horses. cattle. hogs and poultry.
In other. owrds. the function was
changed from collecting and
shipping grain to that of
processing It. Itut by 103 -110
elevator was ,aorklrig only three
months of the. 9ear.
Although there were several
operators after Mr, frikvin retired.
W.G. Smyth„ who had been a.
buYer for many years with Mr.
Irwin. appears to have become
the owner. In 1912 the plant was
sold to Gunn -Langlois of Moo-
treal. Gunn -Langlois had
previously owned a, poultry
feeding and fattening station at
Ifolmesville, operated by N.W*.-,
Trewartha. This operation- was
transferred to the Standard
„
glevator building and the 1/4
Ilolmesville establishment was
converted to a breeding station., -
InitiallY, Ciunn-Wiglois te01,,t2'
over only the brick portion of the
building, and for several years
the frame annex was malntaned ,
as a grab' -buying station by L.
Suiter. By 1913 Guna-LangloiX
was produting about a ton of
dressed poultry a day. In 1924
Gunn -Langlois was absoOed by
Canada Packers With whom the .`
plant remained until about MS
when the operationwas shut
down. Fabian Furniture went
into the building in 1969.
8 - The Sherlock -Manning
• Plano Co. Ltd. -east side
of East Street between
High and Irwin Streets
Sam,Cooper for the erection'of a
new plan, on East Street. By May
of the same year the buildings
were. finished. requiring only
thirty working days fromItart to
completion. exclusive of the
installation of machinery. The
plant as then constructed was
essentially the same as the
present plant.
In January 1900 the saw mill at
Fair's Mill (see 66) was closed
and moved to the Doherty
premises where it was put back
into operation. In December 1901
a fire destroyed the second floc*
of the South wtng of the" faCtory,
and in February of 1905 the in- •
terior of the same winrwas`
wholly destroyed by fire. and weir -
soon after rebuilt.
The history of the factory after
this time is largely its corporate
history fpr which inadequate
research has been done to do it
justice here. It is understood,
however, that Murray Draper
has compiled a history which will
be -published elsewhere in this
centennial year.-
sko heas t :arm r of -fru in .
and Cast Streets
The 1 Jarful Frou
and tfisimeal.Mill
- copyright1975.
1):44..e.rald Fritmlin
The site where the Human Flour
and tIMI St0114 is not
- known and...has been 'arbitrarily
,issigned to the above location. It
may have been just tO the north of
Fabian Furniture (se 5) or it
may have been at the southeast
or southwest corner of 'the in,
tersection of the London Road
with the railway.
It was reported as being -clew
•1, •
at the, time was at the northwest
corner of the intersection of the
London Ruud and the Railway. In
a report of tit- fire that destroyed
the mill in May of 4876 "'cattle
guards" are mentioned. These
were devices fur keeping cattle
Off the tracks. and the reference
would therefore suggest that the
mill was either at the' southeast
sir southwest corner of London
"Itmal anti ' railway intersection.
.ince thv other Corners are known
io have been occupied. Another
.4eport of unknown reliability,
Oates the mill nn East Street
north of Fabian Furniture.
The mill was built in 180 by
W.W. Faeran and in 1871 was sold
to „IA Racey. Mr. Racey died in
1875 and the mill was sold in April
1876 to lames Mahaffy of London.
In Ma. of 1876 it was completely
destroyed b3, fire and was not
rebuilt.
Proud to be port of
Clinton's Progressive
Business Community
since 1946.
9. Fast Fnd ot nigh Street,
cast side of Fast Street
The Stone Factory
copyright 1975
The pond at the location given
in tht heading was excavated, it
is believed. between 1868 and 1876
'to supply water to the boiler of a
"stone factory" operated by thp
Rainsford salt works. It is not al
all clear what the stone factory
was. In 1882 it is reported that
..the machinery cuts an average
of 18,000 stones a day or 16 cor-
ds." If the stones in question were
stones as in gravel, the 18,000
stones comprising 16 cords would
each be about the size of a
quarter inch cute. On the other
hand if a "stone" is taken td
mean a weight of 14 pounds.
18.000 would be 126 tons. One cord
of 128 cubic feet would weigh
about seven tons and qne cubic
foot of solid stone. So irt•nust be
confessed that the 'stone fac-
tory" is a mystery uhless it was
cuttingstone for mosaics which is
highly improbable. It was not a
stone crusher since the main
instrument M the cutting wa§
called a knife.
The "stone factory" was still' '
operating in 1832 btft had gone by
(continued on page 7)
We look forward
to serving you - -
in Clinton's
Second Century
(FORMERLY PICKETT 4 CAMPOt1.0-
.
CORNEIL'cLINtON. 4324732 ,