.jpg) Polson Iron Works in Toronto, 1916 | |
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | William Polson and Company c. 1883 |
| Founded | 1886 |
| Founder | William Polson Franklin Bates Polson |
| Defunct | 1919 |
| Fate | Ceased operations |
| Headquarters | Toronto 1886–1888 and 1893–1919, Owen Sound 1888–1893,, |
Number of locations | Toronto, Owen Sound |
Area served | Canada |
Key people | William Polson – co-founder, Franklin Bates Polson – co-founder |
| Products | Ferries |
ThePolson Iron Works was anOntario-based firm which built large steam engines, as well as ships, barges and dredges.[1]
Founded byWilliam Polson (1834–1901) and sonFranklin Bates Polson, the firm was incorporated in 1886 and it was one of the original shipyards operating in Toronto.
In 1888 favourable land grants prompted the company to move toOwen Sound, which was then an important port forCanadian Pacific's steamships. Owen Sound facility was at the then existing dry docks on the west side of the harbour near the south end of what is now the West Side Boat Launch on 14th Avenue West.[2]
The firm eventually returned to Toronto in 1897 when Owen Sound's town council did not renew the firm's exemption from property taxes. In Toronto the company's ship yard was located on the harbourfront at the foot of Sherbourne Street (south west at The Esplanade where David Crombie Park and hydro substation now occupies). In 1914 the company agreed to lease land from the Toronto Harbour Commission to build a new facility in the newly reclaimed Portlands industrial district, but the outbreak ofWorld War I prevented the move.
Some of the vessels constructed by the Polson Iron Works remain in service today. They includeSS Bigwin,PS Trillium andMV Kwasind.[3]
The engines and hull ofBonnington, a steamboat that ran on theArrow Lakes from 1911 to 1931, were built at the Polson Iron Works, and shipped by rail toBritish Columbia.[4]
The company ceased operations around 1919,[5] but the name lives on inPolson Pier, where the company had intended to relocate the shipyard.
Polson was a builder ofmotor yachts for the wealthy inToronto during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ships built before 1888 and after 1897 would have been built in Toronto with the rest at their Owen Sound shipyard.
List of ships built:[6]
In 1916 Polson Iron Works was involved in the production of the M.F.P Tractor Biplane for MFP Company owned by J.B. Miller, Walter L. Fairchild and Walter H. Phipps.[8] The plane was designed byWalter H. Phipps, owner ofSteel Constructed Aeroplanes Co of New York. Fairchild was a monoplane pioneer fromHempstead Plains, New York.
The steady advancement of the business led to its incorporation on 23 Oct. 1886 as the Polson Iron Works Company of Toronto Limited, with William as president and Franklin as secretary-treasurer.
The Iron Works only two existing ships in Toronto are the Trillium (built in 1913, which still ferry's passengers to Centre Island) and the RCYC passenger ferry Kwasind (1913).