|
 |
| Brief History of MIDLAND |
| The Town of Midland was first settled by farming families in the 1830's and 1840's. Known as Mundy's Bay and Hartley's Landing, Thomas Gladstone built a store during the spring and summer of 1871 and named the place Abedar. Later that same year, H. Cook began construction of a large lumber mill along the shore of Mundy's Bay complete with docks, boarding houses and a skilled work crew of 200 men. It was the largest and most modern mill for its time in Canada. |
| In November of 1871, officials from the Midland Railway Corporation of Peterborough and Port Hope selected this bay as the site for the western terminus of their railway. Aldolphe Hugel and George Cox hoped they would prosper operating such a line between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. The Midland Land Company purchased 400 acres from various farming families and in 1872, they had Peter Burnett survey a village site complete with large lots, wide roads and optimistic plans for the future. They named the new community "Midland City". With railway optimism, expanding lumber production, and a quickly growing commercial sector, Midland City's prospects looked very good. |
| In 1875, the Chew brothers established a grist and lumber mill operation and Midland City reached a population of over 1,000 residents. On October 24, 1878, Midland City was legally incorporated into a village. On July 1, 1879, Midland Railway completed construction of their road and the line was officially opened for commercial and passenger service. In 1881, the Midland Railway built the first large grain elevator and regular commercial grain shipments by ship and rail began. |
| Unprecedented commercial and industrial growth centered throughout the 1880's to the point that the village status was upgraded to "incorporation as a town" on January 6, 1890. The term "City" was dropped and the new community was simply called Midland. Throughout this growth period, a number of local entrepreneurial leaders joined a sort of a local consortium headed by Toronto born James Playfair. They expanded their lumber manufacturing operation into shipping, grain handling and milling, wholesalery, retailing and industrial manufacturing. |
| By 1900, although still largely dependent on Georgian Bay's pine forests, diversification in such companies as the Drummond family's Canada Iron Foundry and the Pratt family's Canada Dredge Co., vastly improved the areas economic health. James Playfair's success in shipping, lumbering and the grain trade provided the capital to undertake even more industrial diversification primarily in the area of ship building and repair. In 1910, the Midland Drydock Co. began construction of a series of tugs and in 1916, this firm was reorganized in the Midland Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., complete with a large shipyard. In 1917, the company obtained an Imperial Munitions Board contract to produce three ships for the First World War effort. The company also produced ships for the two James Playfair Steamship Lines; the Great Lakes Transportation Company for upper lakes shippping and the Glen Lines for canal and coastal trading. |
| Throughout the 1920's, Midland business boomed with continuous shipping contracts, the construction of two more grain elevators with a total capacity of over 8 million bushels, expanded retail and service sectors including hospitals, a library and a YMCA building. |
| Three disastrous developments seriously affected the community during the 1930's. The economic devastation of the Great Depression nearly destroyed the successful regional capital base. The shipyards closed in 1931 and worse yet, the great quantities of white pine which had sustained most of the Georgian Bay communities including Midland, for over half a century, finally ran out. Lumbering ceased to employ thousands. On May 25, 1937, at age 76, James Playfair died, bringing to an end over 50 years of outstanding achievement and involvement in nearly every important development in Midland. Some companies moved to Toronto, many simply went out of business and it took the Second World War to revitalize the shipyards and overcome the insolvency of the 1930's depression. |
| By 1948, Midland had a population of 7,000 people. Grain milling and shipping were the primary sources of employment. In 1954, due to labour strife, the Midland shipyards were closed down and all equipment moved to Collingwood. This was a major blow to the area but it forced the community to diversify its industrial manufacturing, commercial, and tourism base. Ernest Leitz Canada selected Midland in 1952, and Bausch and Lomb, Midland Footwear, and later, RCA, Motorola and other manufacturers developed new products that employed Midland's workforce. By 1972, the population had expanded to 11,000 people. |
| Today, Midland looks toward the new millennium with considerable optimism based on a strong diversified industrial manufacturing base, a lively retail service sector, a strong tourism industry and a new Industrial Research & Development Centre. Midland is a wonderful place to live and raise a family and an attractive, creative, and prosperous community which exemplifies the Canadian way of life. |
|
