Wednesday, April 22, 2009

John S. Metcalf, continued



Here are two pictures of the two-million-bushel grain elevator that John S. Metcalf designed and constructed in Victoria Harbour (now called Port McNicoll) for the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1910: first we see the structure as it was in 1940; then we see it in the mid-1990s, after the marine towers (all three of which were mobile or "loose"), the gallery and the powerhouse were demolished. There were additions to the elevator's storage capacity in 1912 and 1927, which brought its total up to 6.5 million bushels. Closed down in 1990 and partially demolished in the mid-1990s, the elevator is now in the final stages of demolition.

(Thanks to Scott Garrett for his invaluable assistance in fact-checking this entry.)

2 comments:

  1. I am pretty sure Port McNicoll was never renamed from victoria harbour since it still exists and port has been around since at least 1908. Someone said it was renamed in 1912 but that is not the case http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_McNicoll,_Ontario

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    1. Canadian Pacific plans, photos, postcards, timetables and maps from 1905 to 1910 refer to the terminus location as Victoria Harbour, Ontario or Victoria Harbour West. There was no Port McNicoll until approximately late 1910 when the CPR renamed the site and all railway plans and timetables after that were labelled Port McNicoll. Port McNicoll itself never achieved official "Village of" recognition until 1917.

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