This series documents the activities of N.M. Paterson & Sons Limited's marine transportation. Paterson's official entry into the steamboat business came in 1926 when 11 American-built freighters were acquired from Pickands Mather & Co. The fleet was expanded in the late 1920s with a number of canallers built in England. By 1929, Paterson & Co. owned and operated 32 vessels that delivered grain to other Canadian provinces, the United States and Europe. Sixteen of the Paterson vessels left the Great Lakes for wartime service and a total of 7 were lost. Following the war, the fleet was rebuilt with new freighters for the Upper Lakes and Seaway. The development of shipping activities became important with the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959. This evolution of shipping is well-documented in this series. The Seaway made traditional canal vessels obsolete by allowing lakers and cargo ships to transit from the Great Lakes to the St. Lawrence. With this new development, the Paterson Steamship Limited became one of the largest Canadian shipping companies to operate during the decades of 1960, 1970 and 1980.
This series provides detailed documentation on the amount of cargo carried and the costs involved from 1920 to 1998 - with details on material handling, data on freight rates, captains and chief engineers who worked for the Paterson's fleet, costs of accidents and repairs, data on insurance policies, and lists of all commodities required for winter operations and hull engineering. Similar records with such detail on grain shipping do not exist in any existing collection related to Canadian Great Lakes shipping companies in LAC. For instance, the collection of logbooks maintained by Captains and Chief Engineers is the most complete collection of books that exist in North America (1556 logbooks). The quality of the documentation relating to management, engineering and mechanical operations of the fleet dated from 1921 to 2002 is quite remarkable.
The photographs in this series pertain to all shipping activities of the company and the acquisition and construction of ships. They provide visual evidence of the company's construction and engineering accomplishments in this field. Together with the textual records and technical drawings, they are perhaps the most complete photographs of ships existing for the Canadian grain industry. Some of the most significant ship and cargo projects of the N.M Paterson & Sons Company are recorded in these images. The images begin with the early construction and acquisition of ships and continue to the restoration and the building of new and more modern cargos. Special events and the launching of new cargos are well documented. Photographs were used for many purposes: publicity, brochures, calendars, wall décor and gifts to retired employees. There are also images of the captains, mates and other workers involved with shipping activities and the operations.
Panoramic and aerial photographs of ships were taken by professional photographers and feature images of various ships, ports and regions. Many photographs were taken during annual meetings, travels, opening and launching ceremonies of ships, for retiring employees, etc. Some were used for the publication of the Company's magazine, The Paterson News and for the company's public events. Among the professional photographers, there are: James H. Neumiller, James A. Baumhofer, Georges S. Butt, William P. Moran, etc.
