I ventured to the CAW centre today to take advantage of the free WIFI and do a bit of research on the history of industry in Hamilton. I found some interesting articles about a abandonned knitting mill that was bought by Toronto Developpers and is being transformed into condos.
From day-trips.ca:
The Hamilton Textile District located on Ottawa Street is the largest fabric and textile district in Canada and also Hamilton’s top tourist destination.
From urbantoronto.ca
This 1920’s commercial district in East Hamilton grew out of the local textile and fabric industry
which manufactured everything from sewing machines to clothing. Today the Textile District is
a thriving shopping area that has found its niche in fabrics, sewing and home decor. It is also
the site of the very first Tim Horton’s location.
From Wikipedia article on the Economic History of Hamilton:
Canadian patent laws and the underemployed workers skilled in machinist trades lured an important new industrial enterprise from the U.S.A.- the manufacture of sewing machines by Richard Wanzer. From this development there evolved the ready-made clothing industry, which William Eli Sanford introduced locally.
City of Hamilton Document Re: Cannon Street Knitting Mills
A few links to articles:
Potential interviewees:
writer of this article on sustainable steel industry in Hamilton
McMaster University Steel Research
Also, this is my aunt who works at DOFASCO (steel company in Hamilton)