AN OVERVIEW
Known locally as the Woolen Mill, this four-storey 1882 enterprise was originally known as the Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Company. A single-storey extension was added in 1883, and there are 12- and 16-inch pine beams throughout the windowed structure. The mill produced cloth, most notably for the armed forces during wartime on its 3.6-acre site. Shuttered by the Great Depression, it was later known as Hield Bros. operating under that name for 35 years until closure in 1966, due to declining demand and the rise of newer textile technology. The building has successfully passed between various owners becoming home to several businesses including the Kingston Whig-Standard.
I have long wanted to read "But before that...", a history of the mill written by R. Bruce Warmington. The author grew up on Thomas Street, and wrote the book at the request of Hank Doornekamp of ABNA Investments in 2002. With a limited print run of 500 copies, this book is hard to find anywhere. I knew of a copy in the City of Kingston's Heritage Resource Centre, but the day I arrived at their doorstep was a day the centre was closed. A short walk up Johnson Street brought me to the Central Branch of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library reference section, where I knew of another copy. An excellent account written in an engaging 'back through history newest-to-oldest' style (hence the unusual-sounding title) I've been able to revise the earlier post and cross-reference information from the book to publish this enhanced post. The earlier Woolen Mill - History post still exists in its original form.
An early view with two tracks along Orchard Street in right foreground, and a 2022 view:
THE 19th CENTURY
A group of provisional directors of the Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Co. met with city council on April 2, 1881. Their plan was to erect a cotton mill of 10,000 spindles, the cost of which, with machinery would be $140,000, employing 200, with $105,000 of stock already subscribed. A cash bonus of $25,000 from the city was requested. At the next council meeting, the finance committee recommended a bylaw to exempt the company from taxation for 10 years.
A week after the meeting, the Whig announced that plans for the mill had been received, showing a 208x78-foot structure, 40 feet in height. On May 20, a tender notice (reproduction below) was published in the Whig:
Architect Gage closed tenders on June 1 and had made impressive progress by July, including access for a Grand Trunk Railway siding. In January, 1883 the Crown sold nearly 20 acres of Farm Lot A to the K&P Railway for $6,000 and six months later the railway sold this same plot to the Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Company. With horse-drawn drags, topsoil was taken off to the level of the basement, down to limestone. Huge 36-inch slabs of Kingston limestone to be formed into the mill's foundation were transported from the nearby quarry on (now) Montreal Street. Twelve- and sixteen-inch pine and oak timbers from northern Frontenac County were cut to exact size for rafters, beams and flooring.
Tradespeople went to work, and six months after closing the tenders, the building had been erected and electric lighting installed. The building was ready to receive the steam-powered machinery, for which a separate coal-bin, measuring 55 feet square, with eight foot-high stone walls had been constructed. The mill building cost $200,000, with machinery costing $160,000. The ingenious flat-roof design featured reverse pitch underneath, creating a trough that allowed building heat to melt snow off in the winter. There were 65 looms installed in January, 1882 and another 135 expected before opening one month later.
Under the mill's first manager, Wm. Wilson, staff was already being recruited. Instructors and their families from Lancashire, UK were here by January, 1882 ready to train workers. Kingston residents were given preference for employment. The entire staff would be 250, with 200 girls working the looms. Mechanics from Hochelaga arrived, the engine was erected, shafting, heating and gas apparatus added. Gas was to be manufactured on the premises, with production expected to be in April, 1882.
Towards the end of 1882, the mill was processing 115,500 pounds of cotton into 45,000 yards of grey sheeting per week. In the five years from 1880-1885, 19 cotton mills were built in Canada. Loom capacity was twice that of Canada's consumption. The directors were not deterred by the possibility of overproduction. In 1883, architect Gage was engaged for the planned building of one-storey expansion for 100 more looms. The Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Company employed 250 in 1886, with 300 looms under President James Richardson. A June, 1888 notice from the Whig:
A few years later, architect Wm. Newlands called tenders for a frame storehouse, then added offices, and in 1890 a storage shed. By 1898 the entire operation was renovated and enlarged.
The Whig published a supplement showing the mill to be a four-storey brick building, with modern equipment throughout, and dimensions of 330x254 feet, with 200 windows allowing natural light in for proper inspection of the fibres. Seventy windows speckled the north side alone, as did the original single main entrance. A 100-foot tall chimney loomed over the 3.6-acre site and its riverscape.
The proposed sale of the Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Co. led to a shareholders' meeting at City Hall on December 3, 1889. Directors had a hard time keeping the mill running. Representatives of the Dominion Cotton Co. raised their offer from $150,000 to $175,000 and a two-thirds majority approved. British shareholders were largely in favour, Montreal shareholders largely against. Dominion had other mills at Hochelaga and Cornwall. Much has been written about the predominantly-female workforce at the mill, including teenagers, and the dangerous nature of the work. On September 19, 1895 a storm caused damage to 2,500 square feet of roofing. The roof of the mill's tower lifted right off, with damage totalling $80,000.
THE EARLY 20th CENTURY
A two-year depression circa 1903, followed by another in 1907 led to mills under the Dominion Textile Company cutting production to an all-time low, with the fortunate exception of the Kingston plant. It would take another five years for the economy, and the cotton industry, to regain momentum.
Cotton was coming from Mississippi and Texas in 1912, with coal shipments and raw bales of wool arriving via the mill's wharf on the Inner Harbour directly into the building. Steam was used to turn the fan to dry the bales. The plant was billed as self-sufficient, bringing in its own coal, producing its own power, electric light and fire protection. The mill spent $13,500 on freight annually. Finished cotton was packed into 600-pound bales containing 2,200 yards covered in paper and burlap and hooped with iron. A CP spur was added in 1926, facing the cotton warehouse and cloth room.
In the 1920s, tariffs on imported goods were hard on the textile industry, with Egyptian, Indian production down. Magog, Montmorency Falls, and Montreal mills' employment grew, but Kingston's mill was a victim of cutbacks in the industry, closing in 1929.
That small portion of Farm Lot A changed hands many times - from Kingston Cotton Manufacturing Company to Dominion Cotton Company to Dominion Cotton Mills Company, and by 1905 to the Dominion Textile Company, the latter controlling the plant through 1929.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND A NEW OWNER
A fire insurance map image showing the mill 'Silent, Aug. 1929' (above). A description of the plant's property from the 1931 by-law described below and printed in the Whig on February 7, 1931:
In 1930, British textile companies were buying mills in Canada due to additional tariffs brought in by the Bennett government in Britain that made Canadian-based operations more advantageous. Canadian textile factories would only have to import 15% of woolens, previously set at 50%. Examples were George M. Hirst Co. Ltd of Batley buying a mill in Carleton Place, ON and Hiram Leach Co., also from England buying a mill in Huntington, QC. Climatic conditions and water supply replicating those in Lancashire were sought after.
A February 5, 1931 Whig banner headline heralded the Hield Brothers of Crosshills, Yorkshire signing an agreement to locate a new operation in the Dominion Textile building which was then valued at $75,000. Paid for by the city with an option to Hield Bros. to purchase and lease at 5%, proposed payroll exclusive of office staff was $150,000 by time of full employment of 250-300 in May, 1933. The purchase included existing boilers, engines, pumps, shafting, pulleys, hangers, office equipment and furniture, plus machine shop.
There was controversy at the time about city By-law No. 13 enacted by the city to cover the purchase. One group not against the move were former employees of Dominion Textile who had lost their income. Weavers had been making $20 a week working 7 a.m. to 5:30 daily. A February 28, 1931 Whig editorial glowingly called it "the biggest industrial opportunity that has ever come to Kingston". The Chamber of Commerce had this Whig ad printed at that time:
The official opening was on July 27, 1931 with President Hugh Hield and Kingston Mayor George Wright in attendance. Fifty-five Kingstonians were among the 81 employees on the payroll by 1932. By 1936, 100 looms and 150 employees enlivened the mill and in 1944, producing cloth for wartime use by Canada’s armed forces, Hield Brothers exercised their lease option to purchase the building from the city, to operate it as Hield Bros. of Canada Limited.
W.S. (Stan) Grimshaw of Yorkshire was the first manager, and he died at the age of 53 on November 3, 1937. Hugh Hield visited in late-November, and the operation was then co-managed by Ernest Driver and C.H. Brook. A July, 1938 Whig ad gives some history:
WORLD WAR II
As part of a Victory Metal drive in September, 1943 the three 16x20-foot locomotive-style upright boilers and the huge engine that once powered the cotton mill were sold for salvage. Originally costing 1,400 pounds, the engine, produced by J. & E. Wood of Bolton, England was 40 tons with a 22-foot wheel, turning 60 revolutions and powered by 580-hp engine, cycling 69 feet of 3-foot-wide belt with each revolution. Brought to Kingston from a Quebec Dominion Textiles plant, the main belt led to more complex belt arrangements at each loom. The engine was first started on January 21, 1883. As of 1931, when woolen production replaced cotton, the earlier propulsion method became obsolete, with electric motors installed. The 200 tons of scrap was shipped to Toronto by train, with proceeds at $5 per ton going to the Kingston War Services Fund. Kingstonians hoped some of it landed on Berlin in the form of bombs. An October, 1943 Whig ad:
THE TROUBLED POST-WAR PERIOD
Economists agree that among the manufactured products most needed in a modern war are munitions and textiles. Kingston's wooden mill was thereby designated an essential industry during WWII, and as such have priority to obtain rationed items like gasoline, other fuel and tires. However, once the war ended, Alcan and DuPont were laying off workers as contracts were completed. Likewise, Hield Brothers shifted production back to post-war demands. A lifting on the ban on men's suits led to the plant's two main customers, Top Top Tailors and Firth Brothers.
During a 1946 coal strike, plant manager F. Scoon was quoted in the Whig as saying that the plant didn't use coal for heating. It was, however, used for dyeing and finishing, and noted that the plant only had a three-week supply remaining. Suits produced by the plant were sold at Sentry, Simpsons-Sears and Bibby's, among other Kingston retailers. Material produced included picks, serges, mixtures, flannels, dress coatings, vicunas, fancy worsteds and worsted overcoatings.
THE CLOSURE
Chairman David Hield (co-owner along with Hugh Hield) visited the Kingston mill in 1949, the same year unionization was proposed and being voted upon. He had envisioned a large extension to the mill, with a new shed for the looms and increased spinning capacity. Even then, dark storm clouds were gathering over the sector and he decided against any extension, portending poor profitability for any operation producing cloth in Canada. Exports were impossible due to high production costs, with all goods sold in the home market. UK mills served 50% of Canada's market, and a devaluing of the pound sterling was predicted to have a serious effect upon it. Canadian mills paid $2.23 in salary for every $1 spent in the UK.
Between 1949 and 1954, seventeen Canadian mills closed and the industry’s workforce declined by 43 percent. The advent of synthetic fibres such as dacron, rayon and acrylics slackened demand for the mill’s products. A shrinking market and a lack of protection under trade laws Canada's meant that the woolen industry, and Kingston's mill, were on borrowed time. In a 1966 speech, mayor Fray lamented the number of businesses leaving the city, noting that Hield Bros. would cease production when supplies were exhausted. Closure of the mill was confirmed by Hield Brothers on August 31, 1966 (below- Whig story). That was by the end of 1966, after providing employment for Swamp Ward families for four decades. There was no farewell events - just a quiet exit by almost 200 employees who had grown up with the mill as a backdrop, its operations dominating their lives.
Dismantling huge looms for which there was no need in this country, the machinery was removed for scrap. An inexperienced company threw ropes over sprinkler equipment to hoist the machines and slide dollies underneath. A lengthy litigation followed to exact payment for damage to the sprinkler system and to the waterlogged woolen fabric stored a floor below.
Elsewhere in Kingston in 1968, the only employers with more than 100 staff were limited to Alcan, C-I-L, DuPont, Fairbanks-Morse [CLC], Frontenac Floor & Wall Tile, Empire Life and the Whig.
Minor deterioration and major vandalism had brought the building into disgrace from its earlier glory. How much could be needed to upgrade the investment when financial recovery was dependent on rentals income. A watchman/caretaker safeguarded the building from vandals and the weather until the textile property on Farm Lot A was sold by Hield Bros. to St. Francis Developments.
A NEW BUYER BREATHES LIFE INTO THE MILL
In 1969, the Ontario government awarded a $475,000 industrial incentive loan to a US-financed company to locate in Kingston. St Francis Developments of Montreal took possession in 1969 with the intention of converting it into a viable commercial enterprise - a very real challenge. For several months they were unsuccessful in attracting lessees into the huge, empty box of a building that had received no renovations since being vacated by Hield Bros.
St. Francis Developments' first tenant was Kingston Spinners. A subsidiary of Carolina's Millcraft Corporation, the manufacturer of yarns for carpet fibre purchased 14.5 acres of land on Dalton Avenue for a planned $2.5 million, 50,000 square foot mill to produce yarns for the carpet industry in Toronto and Montreal. Dominion Industries was operating a pilot plant in 40,000 square feet of the Woolen Mill's leased space before their new plant was ready. Production continued until 1974, restoring life to the old mill.
THE POST-MILL RENAISSANCE
In 1984, the mill was redeveloped to the Woolen Mill Centre 'incubator' by John Hansen and Wilf & Mary Eagle, with 130,000 square feet available and growing from five to 50 tenants in a year, notably including the River Mill Restaurant. The owners sold to an Ottawa couple, operating the centre until 1987. A September, 1986 Whig ad:
The mill was bought by Doornekamp/ABNA Investments in July, 1993 with 75,000 square feet of space available and operating at 30% occupancy. The sale was through National Trust, and included the adjacent Harold's [Westendorp] Demolition 3.26-acre scrap yard. The new owner planned refurbished commercial space, when completed hosting over 30 tenants - the Kingston Whig-Standard offices, a spa, the Boiler Room climbing gym, software company offices, as well as those of health-care organizations and law firms.
Memories...
I worked at Hield Bros., making woven fabric for men’s suits. My job was in the office for $25 per week, working Monday to Friday from 9 to 5.
Wool suits were made there. My dad was a foreman. He took the job right after World War II.
In 1964, I worked there in my teenage years, crawling under the huge machines to put belts back on the pulleys. A real sweat shop!
By the time I worked at the mil, it was owned by Hield Bros. They wove some of the finest worsted cloth in Canada there. Royal Canadian Mounted Police scarlet, and Royal Canadian Air Force dress blue were two examples.
