By Susanna McLeod
Special to Ontario Construction News
Towering over the waterfront wilderness, a brick windmill powered a gristmill in the town of York (Toronto) in the early 1830s. Grinding crops into flour for farmers, William Gooderham and James Worts came upon the idea of distilling excess grain into alcohol. An empire emerged; it required the construction of substantial buildings and the services of architect David Roberts.
Stretching up over 21 metres, the windmill “required 105,000 bricks, 216 bushels of lime and 100 loads of sand to construct at a cost of 1,000 pounds ($5,000),” said Mike Filey in Toronto Sketches 3: “The Way We Were.” Production began in early October 1832 and within a year’s time, “nearly 2,500 bushels of flour had been produced at the windmill.”
The wind was unreliable as a power source. In 1834, the suicide of James Worts shortly after the death of his wife in childbirth left Gooderham sole owner, and he installed steam power. Three years later, the firm introduced its first sale of spirits. Distilling rye and barley, Gooderham sold whiskey for 30 to 75 cents per gallon, depending on the alcohol content. In the 1840s, he increased his offerings to brandy, gin, and other libations.
Becoming Gooderham & Worts again, James Gooderham Worts joined his uncle in 1845, then Gooderham’s son George completed the partnership in 1856. Living nearby, the men brought fresh enthusiasm to the thriving distillery and mill site, and hired an architect to plan purpose-built structures.
Civil engineer, steam-engine designer, and millwright, David Roberts Senior (b. Ireland 1810) was contracted to design and superintend Gooderham’s larger projects. The foundation for a modern steam mill and distillery was laid in April 1859 and construction expected to be completed by the end of the next year.
Kingston stone was quarried and transported to Toronto by four schooners running continuously between locations. “The premises are 300 feet long (91.4 m.), by a width of 80 feet [24.4 m.), and the principal building will be… between 70 and 80 feet in height (21.3 to 24.4 m.),” said The Globe on July 11, 1859. “The estimated cost (is) £25,000,” employing “from 400 to 500 labourers and mechanics.” Equally immense, the chimney walls were over 1 m thick, and soared 30.5 m high.
The distillery walls and supports were robust. The Annual Review of the Trade of Toronto, for 1861 described a massive building in which beams were doubled throughout the building, and “in the event of the wood becoming diseased, the faulty stick of timber can be removed and by an easy contrivance replaced by one more reliable.”
To prevent wood rot, beams were not inserted into the walls but instead placed on “projections from inside of the wall. The air is thus allowed to circulate around the ends of the timber.” Iron pillars supported the beams in the centre of the building.
The thrumming heart of the operation was the 100-horsepower steam engine. “The boilers, six in number, will be constructed so as to withstand double the pressure which will be ordinarily brought to bear upon them,” noted The Globe. “Like the building, the machinery is to be of the best description… It will be entirely of wrought and cut iron, no wood whatever being used.”
In 1863, a large malting house, a cooper’s shop to build barrels, a two-storey storehouse, office space, and an alcohol tower were constructed. “The whole are to be built in the strongest possible manner, with red brick and stone,” said The Globe on March 26, 1863. “The floors will rest upon heavy cast-iron columns,” and overhead, the roof finished with slate. Georgetown stone added dignified finishings to pilasters and window sills.
An ever-present fear, fire left the Gooderham & Worts facility badly damaged in 1869. Rebuilding immediately, the company returned to production within a few months. Surprisingly, the grindstones and attached equipment survived unscathed, “their preservation having been affected by being embedded in the huge quantity of grain which fell upon them from the upper stories,” mentioned Daily Leader in November 1869.
Distilling made Gooderham & Worts a household brand. In its heyday, the firm produced over 7.5 million litres of whiskey annually. However, whiskey sales slowed when other alcohol beverages took centre stage. In 1923, the firm was sold to American interests.
Now Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, Gooderham & Worts was designated a National Historic Site in 1988. Composed of 30 buildings, the company was applauded for “the architectural cohesiveness of the site characterized by a high degree of conformity in the design, construction and craftsmanship of its constituent buildings.” Much of it was due to David Roberts Senior and later, David Roberts Junior.
Making space for expansion, the abandoned windmill was torn down in 1859. The site was partially excavated in 2003 and its moment in construction history commemorated by archaeologists.
© Susanna McLeod 2021. McLeod is is a Kingston-based freelance writer who specializes in Canadian history.