Maple Leaf Mills Silos
silo complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Maple Leaf Mills Silos was one of two silo or grain elevator complexes that were built in the area between Spadina Quay and Maple Leaf Quay, on Toronto Harbour, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was one of three "monumental" silo complexes that dominated the city's waterfront.
Built in 1928, the silos marked an age when goods were being shipped into Toronto. Towards the end, the silos also marked the port's decline and the desire to remove the industrial eyesore along Toronto's waterfront. They were demolished in 1983.
The silos were located south of Queens Quay on Maple Leaf Quay, between the Peter Street and Rees Street slips.
History
Before construction of the fourth Welland Canal, prairie grain was shipped to lakeports such as Collingwood or Midland, transferred to rail car, and delivered to Toronto - a laborious process. Gordon C. Leitch realized when the canal opened, he would be able to ship grain directly to the Toronto waterfront at considerable efficiency. With the help of businessman James Playfair he founded Toronto Elevators and in 1928 constructed a 2 million bushel capacity concrete grain elevator complex. The first silo structure was built by Carter Construction Company, and was referred to as Playfair Elevators.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maple Leaf Mills Silos” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.