Explore Welland Industry Over the Years
The Welland Canal, started in 1824, is extended all the way to Lake Erie, across the land where Welland would eventually emerge.
On land steeped in the rich history of the First Nations such as the Hatiwendaronk, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe, Welland is officially incorporated.
Massachussetts-based Plymouth Cordage becomes the first major industrial company to open a plant in Welland, manufacturing rope product.
The Page-Hersey Iron Tubes and Lead Company opens in the south end of Welland, taking advantage of its proximity to the canal.
John Deere opens a plant in the Welland’s Dain City area. Five years later it would become the Canadian headquarters of the agricultural machinery giant.
Union Carbide opens a factory near the Page-Hersey plant, where it would manufacture electrodes and electro metal alloys.
New owners purchase a small factory north of East Main St. From here steel giant Atlas Steels would emerge, employing 3,000 workers in its heyday.
Welland’s iconic Main Street vertical lift bridge opens. When the Welland Canal Bypass opened four decades later, it no longer needed to lift, yet remains the city’s central landmark.
The census this year reflects Welland’s burgeoning manufacturing economy. The city’s 36,079 residents are more than double the number from the previous 1951 census.
Basic Structure Steel Fabricators opens on Prince Charles Drive. Specializing in hydraulic equipment, it would eventually become part of the Bosch Rexroth multinational enterprise.
The Welland Canal Bypass opens, the 4th route in the canal’s history. The new route defines the community’s new geography.
Welded Tube acquires the old Shaw Pipe facility. After major retrofitting and expansions, it would become Welland’s second largest manufacturing employer.
Northern Gold Foods, a B.C.-based manufacturer of health breakfast and snack foods specializing in granola, sets up a plant in Welland. It expands only four years later.
GE Canada announces its selection of Welland as the location of its new “Brilliant Factory”, moving production of its Wauskesha gas engines from Wisconsin to Ontario.
Valbruna ASW acquires a large part of the old Atlas Steels site. The only producer of specialty stainless steel in Canada, it continues Welland’s strong history of steelmaking.
Linamar Corporation announces it will build a state-of-the-art 280,000 sq.ft. plant on former Union Carbide lands.