P7248

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Details

ID Number

P7248

Item Name

Image

Title

Canadian Steel Corporation Townsite Construction / Construction de l'emplacement de la ville de la société canadienne d'acier Canadian Steel

Title (Fre)

Construction de l'emplacement de la ville de la société canadienne d'acier Canadian Steel

Date

1918/06/03

Description

Black and white photograph of the excavation of the main drain for the Canadian Steel Corporation's proposed town of Ojibway; a deep trench runs vertically through the centre of the photograph; about half-way up, the trench deepens and the construction of the main drain is visible; on the right bank there is a crane and on the left bank there is a large storage bin piled high with dirt; construction workers are visible working on the drain; foliage is thick on both sides of the trench and trees are visible in the background; hand printed in the bottom left corner is: "Canadian Steel Corporation Ltd. Townsite Construction Main Drain Looking South from end of drain. 175 feet north of 20th Street. 6-3-18".

History

The Canadian Steel Corporation, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Company, purchased an 1800 acre site around 1917 and an elaborate town was planned to house workers at the plant. Roads were built and fire hydrants installed before the town itself was started and a four-lane divided highway separated the plant site from the town and connected it to Windsor, four kilometres away. The recession of the 1920s led the company to reassess the Canadian plant. Some mills were erected but the residential areas were never started. The depression of the 1930s finally killed the project, although the buildings which had been erected were used for war work in the 1940s. The town, which had been incorporated in 1913, remained a municipality although its population never exceded 100. It was annexed by Windsor in 1966, by which time natural regeneration had created a forest on the town site. Part of the site is now Windsor's nature park and the land planned for the Carnegie steel plant was developed for industry and is now known as the Morton Industrial Park. The residential area is now used by a harness racing complex, a new subdivision and the nature park.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Ojibway

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

20th St. / Rue 20e

Building materials / Matériaux de construction

Canadian Steel Corporation Ltd. / Société canadienne de l'acier Canadian Steel ltd.

City planning / Planification urbaine

Construction workers / Travailleur de construction

Excavation

Hoisting machinery / Grues

Ojibway (Ont.)

Progress photographs / Photographies Progress

Sewerage / Réseau d'égouts

Trees / Arbres