Owen Sound Portland Cement Company – Butchart Gardens History

Owen Sound Portland Cement Company

In 1888, Robert Butchart joined with four other partners and investors [Richard Judson Doyle, William Robinson, John Corbet and William Heald] to form the North American Chemical, Mining And Manufacturing Company of Ontario, which was incorporated in Ontario on 16 April 1888. It was the first Canadian company to be formed with the specific intention of manufacturing Portland cement.

Advertisement for the newly incorporated North American Mining And Manufacturing Company, of Shallow Lake, Ontario, August 1889 (Author's collection) — Advertisement for the newly incorporated North American Mining And Manufacturing Company, of Shallow Lake, Ontario, August 1889 (Author’s collection)

In 1892, the North American Chemical, Mining And Manufacturing Company of Ontario changed its name to the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company and operated under that name until it was taken over by the Canada Cement Company in 1909.

Owen Sound Portland Cement Company letterhead, 1906 Note the names of the corporate officers listed: James Edward Murphy, President; William H. Pearson, Vice-President; George S. Kilbourn, Secretary-Treasurer; Directors: Robert Pim Butchart, John M. Kilbourn, David Martin Butchart (Author's collection) — Owen Sound Portland Cement Company letterhead, 1906 Note the names of the corporate officers listed: James Edward Murphy, President; William H. Pearson, Vice-President; George S. Kilbourn, Secretary-Treasurer; Directors: Robert Pim Butchart, John M. Kilbourn, David Martin Butchart (Author’s collection)

The following photographs of the ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory at Shallow Lake, Ontario were taken in 2003. At the time, these ruins were on private land owned by Murray Noble, who allowed the author access to the site to take these photographs.

Ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003 (photo by author)

Remains of storage bins among the ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. (photo by author)

The following photographs show the remains of what landowner Murray Noble believed may have been the Butchart’s house on the Shallow Lake factory site.

Ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. This possibly the remains of the Butchart house at the Shallow Lake factory site. (photo by author) — Ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. These are possibly the remains of the Butchart house at the Shallow Lake factory site. (photo by author)

Notice the daffodils in the photograph above. Remains of Jennie Butchart’s garden at Shallow Lake?

Landowner Murray Noble in what are believed to be the ruins of the Butchart's house at the Shallow Lkae factory site. Ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. (photo by author) — Landowner Murray Noble in what are believed to be the ruins of the Butchart’s house at the Shallow Lake factory site. Ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. (photo by author)

Shallow Lake as seen from the ruins of the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. (photo by author) — Shallow Lake as seen from the ruins of what is believed to be the Butchart’s house at the Owen Sound Portland Cement Company factory, Shallow Lake, Ontario, 2003. (photo by author)

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