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St. Lawrence Starch sponsored and promoted charities, sports teams and volunteer organizations. The company supported hockey, as well as swimming, rowing, football, international skiing competitions, music bands and fairs. The company often provided prizes, prize money and trophies to local groups such as the Don Rowing Club and the Port Credit Canoe Club. The Public Library, St. Andrew’s Church and the Port Credit Cenotaph can trace their roots back to involvement from St. Lawrence Starch and its employees. Reflective of its role in the community, when telephone
service came to Port Credit, the Starch Works was the first business to
have a telephone, and for several years the company phone During the 1940’s the company flooded a portion of its property to be used as a public hockey and skating rink. Piped in music and heated change rooms were provided. St. Lawrence Starch became known throughout Canada for its line of consumer products. These products included Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup, St. Lawrence Corn Oil, Durham Corn Starch and Ivory Laundry Starch. Industrial starch and glucose were sold in bulk, primarily for the manufacture of paper and food products, and to the textile and brewing industries. Early advertising campaigns focused around the promotion
of the National Hockey League players and the Dionne Quintuplets. The
‘Bee Hive Hockey Picture’ promotion was synonymous with Bee
Hive for 34 years from 1934 to 1967 and featured all the NHL personalities
of the day. The Mill Stones were used to grind corn. The bottom stone was kept stationary and the upper revolved at 75 revolutions per minute. Every week and a half, the stones would be changed and a ‘Stone Dresser’ would cut new grooves. Mill Stones were used from the first day of operations until the early 1960’s. For the first few years, the company relied on horse and wagons teams to travel to and from the railway station at Stavebank Road four times a day with goods and raw materials. With the paving of the Toronto-Hamilton Highway (now Lakeshore Road) in 1916, the company entered the new field of motorized transportation by purchasing two Packard trucks with solid rubber tires.
Steam Whistle The steam whistle sounded the daily routine of the workers and villagers alike. The schedule was: 1. 6:30 AM wake-up 2. 6:55 AM prepare for day shift work 3. 7:00 AM day shift starts 4. 12:00 PM lunch break 5. 12:55 PM end of lunch 6. 1:00 PM return to work 7. 5:00 PM day shift end Special soundings were made at 12:00 AM New Years’
Day, 11:00 and 11:02 AM Remembrance Day, for the Volunteer Fire Department,
and for special festivities, such as the returning soldier’s parade. The complex consisted of the Factory Building and the adjoining Boiler Room with its two iron stacks. A third stack and boiler were added in 1892 along with a Feed Plant. St. Lawrence Starch expanded the Steam Plant and added the original Glucose Plant in 1905. In 1907, the plant steam engines were upgraded and electricity was introduced to the Factory Building. Also in 1907, a carpenters’ shop was added. St. Lawrence Starch produced its own electricity and drew fresh water directly from Lake Ontario, independent from the surrounding village. In 1911, a new Power Plant and coal ash storage tank was built. At the same time, a new Factory Building was started. However, with the economic uncertainty created by the outbreak of World War I, a decision was made to halt construction of the partially completed building. During the war, local recruits of the Canadian Expeditionary Force camped in the nearby woodlot and bathed in the tubs in the new, but unused factory. The Staff House was added in 1958 for the workers to use as a lunchroom and recreation facility. Environmental concerns led to the upgrading of the feed drying and process water treatment complex in 1971. An ethanol facility was added in 1976, producing alcohol for the wine and spirits industry. Manufacturing ceased in March 1990. The factory buildings were demolished in 1993 to make-way for the current residential and parkland use.
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The
factory site was ideally located. It was near the main east-west line
of the Grand Trunk Railway. Lake Ontario provided a source of fresh, clean
water. The nearby Credit River offered the possibility of utilizing the
natural harbor, although no goods were ever transported by vessel. Port
Credit was central to the growing cities of Toronto and Hamilton. 
The
founding partners were John Gray and Archibald Hutchison, both natives
of Scotland with previous starch manufacturing experience in Scotland
and Canada, and brothers Robert and Joseph Kilgour who owned a paper bag
manufacturing plant in Toronto. John Gray quickly established himself
as one of the pre-eminent starch production men in North America, while
Archie Hutchison excelled in sales and marketing. St. Lawrence Starch
ceased operations in March of 1990, one hundred years after the first
steep of corn was ground, starch dried, and shipped by horse and wagon
to the rail siding.
St.
Lawrence Starch Company (often called “The Starch Works” by
local residents) quickly became the largest employer in the community.
By 1900, more than 100 men and boys worked at the plant. Over time, several
generations of the same family often worked at the company. During the
Great Depression, when the grind was slow, then president William T. Gray
initiated innovative programs to avoid layoffs. This culminated in the
construction of the Factory Office in 1932.
number
was simply “One”.
The
steam driven water pump on display is a duplex pump manufactured by Canada
Foundries Limited of Toronto. It was installed in the factory in 1912
as a fire pump. Employees tested the pump on a regular basis until mid-1970,
when it was taken out of service. The capacity was 100 gallons per minute,
capable of maintaining 80 pounds pressure on each of four fire hoses.
During the winter, this pump was used to flood the St. Lawrence skating
rink.
St. Lawrence Starch purchased the factory site in 1889. Archie Hutchison
bought 10 acres from the Cotton Estate that was located at the eastern
limit of the Village of Port Credit. John Gray supervised the construction
of the original factory. 
On
July 4, 1918, the old wooden Factory Building was completely destroyed
by fire. This could have been a disaster for the company, but the new
Factory Building was brought into partial production by the end of the
year. The company added a new Table House and Feed House in 1920. By 1925,
other improvements to the site included constructing a new water line,
upgrading the plant machinery and changing the boilers in the Power House.