W.P. Peters Seed Co. - History

Imagine telling Kingston tourists that the glitzy entertainment district around City Hall used to be filled with dusty coal yards and seedy grain elevators! Early on, Kingston was a busy Great Lakes port handling grain, coal and lumber though its importance later diminished as other ports and canals developed. About five months after being sold to the United Co-operatives of Ontario, a nicely-lit 8x10 black 7 white photo of the Peters Seed Company limestone warehouse, variously listed as 267-269, 271, 267-275, 275 or "foot of" Princess Street was taken on August 2, 1959 (top photo - Queen's University Archives, Kingston Picture Collection V23.6-8 and George E.O.Lilley Fonds V25.5-34-78 C -below):

This 1929 fire-insurance map image (below) shows Ontario Street between Princess (left) and Queen (to right). The theme of this post is the W.D.[sic] Peters seed warehouse on Ontario Street (blue) and an additional warehouse with CN spur (brown) closer to the waterfront:

Fellow Kingston history enthusiast Marc Shaw recently shared these four clippings on the early years of the Peters operation - the inspiration for this post.

 

 

Marc added the following: As often happens, I was looking up something else when I happened on a couple of articles  about William Palmer Peters (1872-1968)  and his seed company. I was a bit familiar with him, having a very tangential relationship in that he was my great-aunt's brother-in-law.

He first appears in the city directories in the mid 1890s, working as a labourer and a weighman for the celebrated Richardson grain firm. By 1897, he had branched out on his own, and had begun what ultimately became a very large and successful wholesale and retail business dealing in flour, feed, and seed. Beginning at 65 Brock Street, he moved to 117 Brock Street after a few years and then finally to 267-275 Ontario Street. Concurrently with his business success, he dabbled in car sales and had a very long career in municipal politics, from about 1911 to 1946. He was the Mayor of Kingston in 1934.  He lived until the age of 96, and ran his company until well into his 80s. It was a very long and productive life!

W.P. Peters opened a feed and seed business in 1897, relocating its operation from Brock Street to 267-275 Ontario Street, circa 1918 when a CN spur was built at the rear of the building which could only hold a single car at the unloading platform.  A sample Peters Timothy bag:

Carrying products like Lake of the Woods flour, feed and mill stuffs, lawn and flower seeds, upon W.P. Peters' retirement in 1943 the business was transferred to Vernon Morrison, though retaining the Peters name. The upper-storey grain storage area caught fire on April 5, 1945. In 1960, the founder’s son, W.R. Peters became manager, changing the name of the business to Kingston Co-operative Seeds and relocating to a new location at 93 Counter Street in 1963. 

A door-open CN boxcar can be seen spotted near the two-storey Peters warehouse on the dock, formerly  a Naval Reserve training building during World War II, and James Richardson Grain office. Coast Guard buoys are in the foreground and the Topnotch mill at centre background (Queen's University Archives, City of Kingston Planning Department V123.1-file 4) taken in 1959 or 1960.

Two closeups from an aerial photo showing a Canadian Pacific steam engine with three boxcars behind the Peters building on Ontario Street, with a logo-less Canadian Pacific (?) boxcar sitting on their VERY short spur. Were it not for the pre-existing nature of the limestone building, it's unlikely a modern railway would install an expensive track switch for a one-car spot (Queen's University Archives, George E.O. Lilley fonds V25.6-8-1).

Another feed mill, visible in waterfront photos with its checkerboard elevating tower, was operated by Topnotch Feeds - May 1950 Whig ad (below). The business was moved to a larger building at Counter and Division Streets by 1970, now operated by Kingston Plate & Window Glass.

An intriguing series of five photos of the Topnotch feed mill taken on May 18, 1961 (Queen's University Archives, George E.O. Lilley fonds V25.5-28-63). 

Period billboards with the Public Utilities Commission (later site of Kingston Police headquarters) brick building across Ontario Street at right (above) and harbour view:

The loading/unloading door angled to meet the CN spur with a loading pipe from the elevator visible at the top of the White Owl cigar billboard:

Broken windows facing the harbour, the rails barely showing in the dirt:

View from Ontario Street toward the lake, with lighting for the billboards visible at centre. The warehouse was built for the Tweed Milling Co. circa 1935 and Moore Neon is operating the office at the time these photos were taken, originally built as Donoghue Grain.

Back to Peters....an early 1960s colour photo taken from the opposite side of Ontario Street (Queen's University Archives, Hazelgrove Slide Collection 1.71). Having already moved to 93 Counter Street, there's a "we have moved" sign in the ground-floor window and the building is for sale:

The new Co-op building at 93 Counter Street, from the Division Street end on May 12, 1960 (Queen's University Archives, George E.O. Lilley fonds V25.5-26-177). The current Executive House, former home of Hanson & Edgar, was built on the site in 1964.

Another view from the Rigney Street end (below). My Dad and I often stopped in on Saturday mornings to buy items such as winter coats, chicken wire and bird seed. Once no longer operated by United Co-Operatives, Tractor Supply/TSC and Peavey have been subsequent owners.