Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki
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Port Williams Fruit Company
Port Williams Fruit Company Limited, Port Williams (Greenwich)
- Mile 51.5 on the Halifax Subdivision
- Served by a 507 foot, 10 car spur with western facing switch.
History
Built circa 1900 by Henry Welton as a wooden apple warehouse, this warehouse in Greenwich across the road and west of the Port Williams Station was purchased in 1910 by the Port Williams Fruit Company, a co-operative formed by several farmers in the Port Williams area who banded together to jointly ship and market their apples and potatoes. The company joined other fruit co-ops to form the United Fruit Companies organization in 1912. The warehouse had multiple expansions as the co-op grew and offered more services including fertilizer and gasoline. It was extended to the east in 1922 and to the north in 1924. A dust factory for insecticide spray was also added in 1924 and a coal shed was built in 1926. The warehouse had a capacity of 19,000 barrels of apples by 1927[1] and was 271 feet long and 60 feet wide. A large cooperage was located just to the north.[2] Part of the warehouse was converted to cold storage in 1932. The company was taken over by Scotian Gold in 1965 and continued as a fruit and vegetable warehouse.[3] It was late acquired by the Bishop Family and used to store farm machinery for their Noggins Corner farm operation as well as to store furniture for Stage Two Furniture in Port Williams. The warehouse was destroyed by a large accidental fire on October 18, 2007.[4]
Gallery
The Port Williams Fruit Company co-op apple warehouse interior, 1913.
Port Williams track chart, including the Port Williams Fruit Company, stock yard, spurs and sidings for the evaporator and other warehouses, Oct. 1, 1926.
Port Williams showing the Port Williams Station, the Port Williams Fruit Company and other warehouses as well as the evaporator ruins, August 1931.
The Port Williams Fruit Company co-op apple warehouse, 1934.
Port Williams Station, looking west to the Port Williams Fruit Company warehouse, summer/early fall 1973 just before the station's demolition.
References and Footnotes
- ↑ Dominion Atlantic Railway, DAR Chart of Apple and Produce Warehouses, February 23, 1927
- ↑ Greenwich Fire Insurance Plan August 1944, Nova Scotia Archives
- ↑ Edythe Quinn, A History of Greenwich, The Women's Association of Greenwich United Church (1968) p. 39
- ↑ Kirk Staratt, "Firefighters from five counties battle Greenwich warehouse blaze", Nova News Now, October 21, 2007
