1960s

The St. Lawrence Engine Company was founded by H.W. Going and was located at St. Andrew’s Street. Going worked with his brother-in-law Charles T. Wilkinson as a partner and chief engineer. Charles was a graduate of McGill and eventually left for the Canadian Coal Company. The company specialized in 2 cycle engines.

The company wanted to build “a single cylinder engine as good as or better than any that existed.” The company forged their own crankshafts but many later on were cut and milled from a piece of square steel stock. In 1913, the company came out with a remote starter. The site was not only used for building 2 cycle engines but the facility provided gas, oil and repairs as well as winter storage.

In the 1920s, Going and the St. Lawrence Engine Co. became the first Canadian marine engine company to adapt the ‘model T’ engine and work closely with Ford Motors. In 1936, the company was the first North American firm to convert V-8 engines to marine use. A family member remembers Going meeting with Henry Ford in Brockville. The engines were sold around the world; USA, Africa, Egypt and Mexico as well as domestically.

The company was located at 10 St. Andrew Street adjacent to the Marina which is still active. In 1948, the company ceased engine production and focused on general engineering and specializing in marine mechanics. The site is now the St. Lawrence Marina.

The company was sold in 1947 and changed hands until the 1980s.

For more information concerning the St. Lawrence Engine Co. Ltd. please visit www.stlawrenceengines.ca.

The Comstock Brothers Medicine Company was an established American company working out of New York City before they set up a branch operation in Brockville. The company shipped thousands of boxes of pills and bottles of their medicine around the world, the most famous being Dr. Morse’s Indian Root Pills.

Edwin Comstock founded the company sometime in or before 1833 with his brother Lucius. After Edwin’s death in 1837 the company underwent many changes and partnerships. Much of the history of the company is found via lawsuits and court documents as it changed hands within the family many times. Lucius continued the company with another brother, which ultimately ended in 1841, from 1841-46 Lucius worked with his mother-in-law. Edwin’s son William Henry Comstock joined the partnership that subsequently opened the office in Brockville and Morristown.

In 1864, William H. Comstock bought Dr. Howard Medicine Company of Brockville. The company shifted its operations from New York City to Brockville and built the Comstock Building on Court House Avenue to house the firm. In 1867, Comstock expanded to Morristown, New York and the New York City operations ceased.

The company employed both men and women. Through the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s the average wage for women was $3 to $5 while men made $ 7 to $12. Comstock went on well into the 20th century. After 1959 Comstock declined and in 1960 the company was liquidated and patents sold off. The Comstock building was demolished in 1966.

More information of the Comstock business may be found in the book written by Robert Shaw,History of the Comstock Patent Medicine Business and of Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills,
Smithsonian studies in history and technology, no.22, 1972.

Established in 1904 and incorporated in 1911, the Gilbert Motor Boat Company not only manufactured and repaired boats, they also provided storage services. The site is still in use today.

In 1888 Alan S. Ault took over a company founded by William T. McCullough, forming the company Alan S. Ault & Co. Suppliers of fuel such as coal and wood, merchants such as Ault were vital to the development of industry in Brockville, as they provided the fuel that powered foundries, factories, and plants.

Ault's coal company was located at the south-west corner of Water St East and Bethune St, east of the current location of the Brockville Rowing Club. This location was ideal as it allowed for the easy unloading of coal from ships on the St Lawrence, while also providing easy land transport to the many industrial sites along the waterfront. As can be seen in the photos above, Ault's enjoyed both road and rail transport links.

The company dealt in the sale of anthracite and wood but its biggest seller was bituminous coal which they supplied to the Brockville Hat Works, the Ontario Asylum, and the Canada Carriage Company.

Ault later entered into a partnership with Walter B. Reynolds, forming the Ault & Reynolds company. It later became the W. B. Reynolds Coal Co. Ltd.

Like the Central Canada Coal Company, the Ault/Reynolds Coal depot underwent a number of changes in the way that it processed its coal. At first unloading barges using a bucket powered by a horse an pulley, they gradually introduced increased levels of mechanization. While this accelerated the process of unloading coal, it also damaged the coal. Because of this they turned to importing coal by rail via the Brockville Tunnel. In an atmosphere of sharply declining demand for coal, the closure of the tunnel was the final straw for the coal trade and as of 1974, W.B. Reynolds ceased sales of coal.

In 1854 James Smart opened his Novelty Works, which was soon followed in 1860 by his foundry, located in the present-day site of Hardy Park.