Farewell to the Vulcan Iron Works building

The former Vulcan Iron Works building on Maple Street at Sutherland went up in flames today which led to the evacuation of a large part of the neighbourhood. Though the building was occupied as warehouse space and home to a towing company, thankfully there have been no reports of deaths or injuries.

Mar. 25, 1881, Manitoba Free Press

The company was created in 1874, the same year the city was established, as the Winnipeg Foundry and Machine Shop which did a lot of work in the mining and steamship industries. In March 1881, it opened at a new location on Maple Street with a new name: Vulcan Iron Works.

The company grew quickly and the Vulcan site was soon a campus of foundries and manufacturing shops that took up about three blocks. The men who worked there made the materials that helped build Western Canada - everything from structural steel to cast iron stoves to nuts and bolts.

It is sometimes said that the Winnipeg General Strike "started" at Vulcan but that is not the case. In early May 1919, the employees of the city's three big foundries -Vulcan Iron Works, Manitoba Bridge and Iron Works, and Dominion Bridge Co. - all went on strike together. The size of their collective workforce and their importance to the regional economy was a significant blow to local business leaders.

Feb. 26, 1930, Winnipeg Tribune

Vulcan Iron Works was sold to Toronto's James A. Gairdner in 1947. In 1955, he created the Bridge and Tank Co. of Canada to merge it with his Hamilton Bridge Co. and the Vulcan Iron Works name disappeared. The company relocated to Transcona in 1961.