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This rare photo, shows both the Elevator  and the lumber business that were destroyed in the 1897 fire. It also indicates the length of the dock space available to the citizens committee for the building of their new Grain Elevator Company. The tugs, Orcadia and Wm. H. Slibold, in the foreground were built at the Henry Marlton Shipyard of Goderich. Today this area is occupied by our grain storage tanks. A view along the dock of the Grand Trunk Elevator and the local lumber business in full operation. For the most part, logs were towed into the harbour from the north by these tugs in log booms and were processed in the sawmill, (not visible, but to the left of this photo). | |
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The decision of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) to build a grain elevator here in 1866, established Goderich as a Great Lakes Grain Terminus, setting the stage for the eventual rising of the Goderich Elevators and Transit Co. Ltd. in 1898. When the 60,000 bushel GTR Elevator succumbed to fire in 1897, all the ingredients were there to continue the business; a rail line that extended across Ontario and connected with the United States, a harbour that had been substantially upgraded, and plans to build more piers and eventually breakwalls and the land to build more elevators and the opportunity to handle more business. The timing was right. The country was growing, food was a basis of survival and a group of local citizens had the perception to put their business plan in place including the building of a much larger facility. As well, the Federal Government responded with harbour dredging allowing larger ships to use the port. This Company had only one way to go. The stage was set for growth and expansion.
One of the bumps along the way for the new Elevator Company happened in 1905 with a fire and the destruction of their first 1898 wooden elevator. By the superb efforts of Lionel Parsons, a junior employee at the time, who later rose to be President, the steam power plant was saved from the fire. The fact the new Company didn't have to cope with the financial cost of a new power plant allowed for a fireproof concrete elevator to be constructed. In the spring of 1907, the Str. Agawa brought the first load into their new facility.
When the grain arrives at the Elevators, whether by truck, rail or ship, the shipping office looks after all the details of quantity, grade, type and ownership. Our Company does not own any grain, its service is to our customers for the elevation, unloading, loading and storage of their products. | |||
The Government of Canada promised to dredge the harbour if a new 500,000 bu. elevator was built. This had the effect of allowing much larger vessels into the Port of Goderich. In the case of the first Grand Trunk Elevator, only schooners up to a maximum capacity of 40,000 bu. were able to navigate the harbour. After dredging, the larger vessels brought over 100,000 bu. per trip. By 1905 another railway, the Guelph-Goderich Railway, indicated it would come to Goderich. It eventually became the Canadian Pacific and opened in 1907.
In 1973, Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. decided to dispose of its elevator assets and Goderich Elevators proceeded to purchase this 1,600,000 bu. operation. In 1991, further expansion by the use of metal tanks increased the storage to 2,000,000 bu. In total, Goderich Elevators has presently a storage capacity of 5,000,000 bushels.
