W. Harris & Co. (Toronto, Ontario)

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Site of W. Harris & Co. glue and fertilizer works.

W. Harris & Co. began on the Kingston Road (now Queen Street East) in 1870 and moved shortly thereafter to Pape Avenue just above the railway tracks. William Harris' home, built in 1900, still stands at the north west corner of Pape and Riverdale Avenues. In 1882, JohnB. Harris, a younger brother of William, joined the family firm. A directory of the day noted: They are now engaged in the manufacture of sausage and bologna casings, fertilizers and fertilizer materials, animal oils, etc. They also do an extensive trade as stock dealers handling horses, cattle, milch cows, hogs, etc. In 1901, William Harris formed the Harris Abattoir Company which in 1927 became part of Canada Packers Ltd. At his death in 1914, William Harris was a leader in the Canadian livestock business.

John Harris carried on the daily operations of W. Harris & Co., which had relocated in 1894 to the north side of Danforth Avenue at Coxwell, on land leased from the Church of England. This business, popularly known as Harris' dead horse factory or glue factory, was a major east end industry. With its extensive buildings and grounds, its tall brick chimney and its terrible smell which spread far and wide by the wind, W. Harris & Co. was a landmark in the area . Local residents would set their clocks by its noon and 6:00 P.M. whistle. Wilson Harris, a grandson of John B. Harris, can remember hog hair drying in the sun on the fields surrounding the factory.

Not surprisingly, John Harris had some difficulty in finding the necessary 150 to 200 men needed to work at his factory. He solved the
problem by an arrangement with the Don Jail, whereby a convict would be paroled if he agreed to work at the glue factory for the balance of his term. Harris would supply living quarters, clothing and pocket money, keeping the balance of the prisoner's wages until the end of the agreement.

After the Prince Edward Viaduct opened in 1918, much of the land around W. Harris & Co. was subdivided. While the new residents in the
Coxwell-Danforth vicinity joked that if you paid your two cent fare and took the streetcar as far east as the Harris factory, you would at least get your "scent" back, they strongly objected to having the foul smelling industry in the midst of their spanking new homes. Public pressure mounted and finally in 1922123 the company was forced to relocate to Keating Street. W. Harris & Co. remained there until the early 1960's when its property was expropriated for the Don Valley Parkway, and the company was sold to British Glues and Chemicals.

from The Danforth In Pictures by Barbara Myrvold