Collection search - Hamilton Steel and Iron Company [multiple media]

Record information – Brief
1
Hamilton Steel and Iron Company [multiple media]

Hierarchical level:

Sub-series

Date:

1880-1958.

Reference:

R15513-4-4-E

Type of material:

Textual material, Maps and cartographic material, Architectural and technical drawings, Photographs

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

4841788

Context of this record:

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The Steel Company of Canada (Stelco) fonds

Founding companies

Hamilton Steel and Iron Company
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Record information – Details

Sub-series includes:

100 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1880-1958.

Place of creation:

Canada

Extent:

6.9 m of textual records.
3 technical drawings.
5 architectural drawings.
5 maps.
1 album (20 photographs) : b&w prints.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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The records in this sub-series consist of a complete set of documents, which is rare for a founding company that has survived since incorporation.

The records go back to 1893. They pertain to its management and its development. Corporate and financial files provide detailed information on the company's dealings. Among this valuable documentation are minute books of Directors' meetings, letter books, By-Laws and Incorporations, ledgers of accounts, balance sheets, assets and liabilities, profit and lost statements, trusts, mortgages and shareholders transfer books which contain share certificates. These provide information on aspects of the company's decisions, administration and operations. Insurance and mill property appraisal files are very useful to understand the company's expansion. Subscription policies were the most common form of insurance. They provided protection to the company and offered indemnities. They covered loss and damages to mills, accidents, material handled, equipment and machinery. Used along the property documents such as deed of land, leases, inventories and agreements, appraisal records help to describe in detail the value of properties. Drawings of mills are often included with the policies and plant appraisals. Of particular research interest is an account book that includes information on factory, forges, furnaces, open heart and steel mills production dated from 1906 to 1910.

Other topics in this sub-series relate to the company's settlement on Hamilton water land areas, the construction of the open-hearth furnaces and exploration of iron mines.

When the company purchased two of its main Ontario competitors: the Hamilton Blast Furnace Co. and the Ontario Rolling Mill Co., the documents produced by these smaller companies were preserved in the Hamilton Offices. They are available in this sub-series. They comprise corporate, legal, financial and property records.

Provenance:

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Hamilton Steel and Iron Company Limited

Biography/Administrative history:

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Hamilton Steel and Iron Company Limited : The Hamilton Steel and Iron Company Limited was founded in 1899 and was an amalgamation with neighborhood companies in the same manner that the Montreal Rolling Mills Co. group was formed. The oldest, the Ontario Rolling Mills Co. was established in 1861 and the Hamilton Blast Furnace Co. in 1895. Located on the Great Lakes, these mills were built in West Hamilton and in London and consisted of about 100 acres of water front lots. Lines of the Grank Trunk, Canadian Pacific and Michigan Central Railways ran into the proprieties and the mills.

The Ontario Rolling Mill Co. operated with the purpose of rolling iron rails. This company was managed by business men A. M. Wilcox, P. M. Hitchcock joined by C. E. Doolittle and Charles S. Wilcox. A mill with 20-inch rolls employed about 130 men and produced 7,000 tons of rails annually. Additional, there was a 20-inch nail mill, a 9-inch mill and a mill for puddled bars, and these helped to furnish the demand of the American nail works and Hamilton hardware. About 500 men worked at these plants in 1896. The Ontario Rolling Mill absorbed other interests in the Ontario nail industry and purchased the Windermere Rolling Mill in Toronto, the Hamilton Iron and Forging Co. and later, the London Steelworks Co. of London, Ontario. The bar iron produced by these companies was purchased to build and replace old ships and trains in England.

The Hamilton Blast Furnace was founded in 1895 at Huckleberry Point on the shores of Hamilton by John Tilden, A. T. Wood, John Milne and others. Robert Hobson was engaged as General Manager. The company produced pig iron for foundry use and after successful operation, joined the Ontario Rolling Mills under the title of The Hamilton Steel and Iron Company. Charles S. Wilcox became President and Robert Hobson Secretary. This amalgamation will eventually became the Hamilton Works of The Steel Company of Canada.

Before 1910, The Hamilton Steel and Iron Company operated four Open Hearth basic steel furnaces with a capacity of 10,000 tons of ingots and castings per month. The company operated also a rolling mill with a capacity of 3500 steel bar per month and a spike plant with a capacity of 800 tons per month. 1500 men worked at these plants.

Source:

Private
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Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R15513]

[Consultation 90 Open]

71;

[Consultation 90 Open]

85;

[Consultation 90 Open]

120;

[Consultation 90 Open]

123;

[Consultation 90 Open]

131--141;

[Consultation 90 Open]

158--159;

[Consultation 90 Open]

253;

[Consultation 90 Open]

297--298;

[Consultation 90 Open]

300;

[Consultation 90 Open]

303;

[Consultation 90 Open]

382;

[Consultation 90 Open]

495--497;

[Consultation 90 Open]

533--534;

[Consultation 90 Open]

637--638;

[Consultation 90 Open]

Cartographic material

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R15513]

[Consultation 90 Open]

121;

[Consultation 90 Open]

175;

[Consultation 90 Open]

382;

[Consultation 90 Open]

Architectural: technical drawings

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R15513]

[Consultation 90 Open]

120;

[Consultation 90 Open]

638;

[Consultation 90 Open]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R15513] 142

[Consultation 90 Open]

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