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  • November29th

    Packard Automobile

    Posted in: Articles, General

    Packard was an American luxury automobile built originally by the Packard Motor Company of Detroit, MI, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana.

    The cars were produced between 1899 and 1958. The company was founded by two Packards – James Ward and William Doud – and a partner named George Lewis Weiss. Spurred on by the belief that they could improve the design of the horseless carriage, they went on to introduce innovations such as the steering wheel and the first 12-cylinder engine.

    The 3.5 million square foot Packard plant in Detroit covered over 35 acres and was designed by Albert Kahn. It included the first use of reinforced concrete for industrial construction in Detroit. When it opened in 1903, it was considered the most modern car manufacturing facility in the world.

    With over $21 million in sales in 1928, the company was flourishing in the luxury car business. General Manager Alvin Macauley even wrote the iconic slogan “Ask The Man Who Owns One”. Packard even made it through the Depression while other car manufacturers closed by producing more affordable sub-$1000 cars. The company coasted until the end of the war.

    A merger with Studebaker, failing sales due to their inability to distinguish their low and high-class lines with customers, and high debt finally did Packard in. The last cars rolled off the assembly line in Detroit in 1956 as all car work was shifted to South Bend.

    Today the complex is owned by a company called Bioresource Inc., although the city of Detroit say they have failed to pay taxes since they bought the building in 1987, failed to file an annual report since 2000, and dissolved in 2003. Abandoned? You tell me…The scrappers on site would say so.

    (This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “Packard”)

  • November29th

    Barber Paper Mill

    Posted in: Articles, General

    Nestled along the banks of the picturesque Credit River in Georgetown, Ontario, lie the ruins of a once bustling paper mill.

    The original structure was erected in 1823 by George Kennedy, a descendant of United Empire Loyalists, who recognized the importance of the abundant water supply from the Credit River. A small settlement called Hungry Hollow soon built up around the mill. In 1837, the Barber brothers purchased the mill and foundry from Mr. Kennedy and renamed the small settlement Georgetown.

    Originally, they worked a woolen mill, later switching to fine rag paper. The Barber brother’s papermaking business flourished along the banks of the Credit, and with the building of the Grand Trunk Railroad through Georgetown and Hamilton, the small settlement rapidly grew. By 1864, the population rose to 1250 citizens and the settlement became an official Village in December of that same year.

    In 1869, James Barber bought the paper business. Upon his death, his son John Roaf Barber took it over, changing it to wood pulp, and grew it into a large operation that employed hundreds of people. In 1888, he commissioned the Cleveland Brush Company in Ohio to build a dynamo to power his expanded manufacturing mill. It was built over 1 kilometre down river from the mill and the electric power was transmitted by wire back to the plant – the first long distance power transmission in North America.

    In 1911, John R. sold his interest in the paper mills to Provincial Paper Company and retired. The Ontario Heritage Foundation marked the site with a sign in 1977 but the buildings themselves are not safe from the wrecking ball as proposal were tabled as far back as 2004 to redevelop the site as a “14-storey condominium and 48-room country inn…with 245 condo suites.” The site makeover is estimated at $75 million.

    The Town of Halton Hills is still pursuing designation as a national heritage site – if it can get it, the buildings cannot be torn down and must be incorporated into the redevelopment plans. Considering the historical significance of this site to the region, this would seem the smartest option but with the mill sitting in complete ruin, with many of the buildings in need of structural support, most floors collapsed due to rot from rain and snow, and the roofing structure completely missing it may be too late for this structure.

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