On pages 174-175, in the course of a discussion of the many developments that led to Buffalo's decrease in importance as a grain port, I mention that a small but nevertheless significant event took place in 1911, when the huge Canadian flour company Maple Leaf opened a flour mill in Port Colborne. Located on the Lake Erie side of the Welland Canal, which connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, Port Colborne had long competed with Buffalo for grain that was headed to Rochester and Oswego, both of which were entrances to the New York State Barge Canal and flour-milling centers in their own right. The opening of a flourmill at this rival transshipment point both increased the pressure on Buffalo and extended it to Rochester and Oswego.
Above: the Maple Leaf grain elevator in 1920. Note the marine tower, apparently in operation.
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