Scrapyards - now there's a topic that I'll bet rarely makes it to the docket of the Kingston Historical Society! But there's money (and history) in scrap - one man's junk and all that...
I'm in the process of relocating my HO scale scrapyard. Now, more spacious! With a longer rail spur! So I'm taking full advantage of archival photos. Indeed, large swaths of the near-north end of Kingston were occupied by scrapyards and still are. Though we often think of scrapyards as 'the graveyards of the rusted automobiles' of Arlo Guthrie's telling, there's been a rebirth in steel and other metals used as re-melt. KIMCO and other auto scrapyards located along McAdoo's Lane do a brisk business.
COHEN
Arriving in Kingston from Lithuania in 1898, Isaac Cohen began his scrap business on Princess Street in 1899 in partnership with a Max Susman. Their Kingston Rag & Metal Co. buildings were reached via a passageway beside Oberndorffer’s cigar factory on Ontario Street. The largest dealer in scrap metal between Toronto and Montreal, its warehouses were situated close to the docks for shipping by water or by railway. Eventually moving to the rambling property on the west side of Montreal Street, south of present-day Railway Street, variously listed as 606 Montreal Street (1923), 540 (1941) and 594 (1943) per city directories. The site is currently listed by the city as a contaminated brownfield site..
Results of extinguishing a fire in the Cohen scrapyard (battery recycling) site on February 2, 1968.
Wider shots of the scrapyard listed as 594 Montreal Street, part of a City of Kingston planning report:
This may have been the Cohen scrapyard:
Steel and scrap were inseparable. A 1967 Cohen ad:
Imagery from the city's Kmaps website shows the transition from scrap metal to steel sales between 1953 and 1978.
KIMCO
Hyman Rosen arrived with his family from Lithuania in 1911. An early scrap operation (formerly occupied by Oberndorffer/McGowan's Cigar manufacturers) became Rosen Coal Supply in 1937 on Rideau Street. A 1920 newspaper ad:
That site would become Kingston Scrap Iron Metal Company, though a city park and tennis courts now occupy the site. Later relocated to Counter Street in 1975 as the burgeoning KIMCO (Kingston Iron & Metal Company) operation under president Irving Rosen in 1976, joined by Gregg Rosen in 1979. Gregg was killed in a boating accident in September, 2023. Irving continued with the scrap business, while Hyman's son Harry concentrated on the fuel business. The gates and 1965 streetview of Rosen's at 140 Rideau Street:
KIMCO bought the assets of I. Cohen & Co. of 594 Montreal St. in December, 1991. At that time, Cohen's property south of Railway Street was 3 acres and the president was H.A. Cohen. A Whig ad marking the opening of the Kingston Shopping Centre in November, 1971 mentions KIMCO but includes the older logo:
Similar versions of this Kingston Iron & Metal ad ran from the late 1960's to the mid-1970's:
Another ad from September, 1982:
In latter years, Harold's Demolition scrapyard was even set up mere feet from the entrance to the Woolen Mill!
(Unless otherwise indicated, photos in this post from Queen's University Archives)
This may have been the Cohen scrapyard:
In the various great phots of Kingston , that you post, I see a certain style in the work of the sign painter. Do you know more about the sign painters ?
ReplyDeleteGood question, Mike. The only one I know of was Bob Fray, former mayor and artist behind the Spirit of Sir John A lettering on CPR 1095. There was a lot more work for signpainters before the era of digital graphics and wraps. There are still a few examples around town!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment,
Eric