96 Columbia

013

T. M. Todd – Manager Allan Line (1899).

From http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/allan-line/

“Allan Line was a Scottish-Canadian shipping company founded by Captain Alexander Allan (1780-1854) with his newly purchased brigantine, Jean, which sailed from Greenock, Scotland, to Québec in 1819. In 1826 his second son, Hugh Allan, came to Montréal and developed a successful shipping business there; in 1839 Hugh was joined by a younger brother, Andrew. Two other brothers established offices in Greenock and Liverpool. In 1854 the Allan consortium incorporated the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company, which in 1856 won the government mail contract from Montréal to Liverpool.

With innovative engineering and design the Allan ships prospered on the Atlantic and other trade routes. The first steel liner to sail the Atlantic was the Allan Line’s Buenos Ayrean in 1880. After the turn of the century the company had difficulty financing new ships and was sold to CANADIAN PACIFIC Steamships Ltd in 1909.”

 

69 Columbia

009

C. E. Wolfkill – Dominion Bridge Co. (1899)

From: http://www.memorablemontreal.com/print/en/batiments_menu.php?quartier=15&batiment=252&section=Array&menu=histoire

“The Dominion Bridge Company, founded in Toronto in 1879 under the name Toronto Bridge Company, moved to Lachine in 1883 to manufacture iron and steel superstructures for bridges and buildings. Attracted by the vast expanses of low-cost land along the canal, the company was directly linked to Lachine’s development. It gradually expanded its complex, buying more land and adding a machine shop in 1897, then making more additions between 1925 and 1935.

A major employer in Lachine, Dominion Bridge built numerous skyscrapers and bridges across Canada, including the Reversing Falls railway bridge in Saint John, New Brunswick, and the bridge between Kanahwake and Lachine. The company and its subsidiary, Davie Industries, went bankrupt in 1998, and, following the concerted efforts and protests of the unions, the assets were bought by the Group ADF Inc. and the FTQ Solidarity Fund. In 2003, the ADF threatened to close down the facilities, which were then bought by Cintube, a former partner of Dominion Bridge specialized in the precision bending of tubes, pipes, beams, and channels.”