Shurly & Dietrich Co. was a Canadian saw manufacturer that was founded in 1873[1] by Cosmos J. Shurly (1835 - 1918)[2] and Jerome C. Dietrich (1838 - 1925).[3] Shurly & Dietrich saws were heavily used in the Canadian logging industry.
History edit
In 1873, Jerome Dietrich and Cosmos Shurly brought skills learned while working at Disston Saw Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[4] and invested $12,000 to found the Shurly & Dietrich Co. They hired nine saw makers from Rochester, New York and Sheffield, England and began to manufacture saws in Galt, Ontario, now called Cambridge.[1][5] By 1886 the company employed 70 skilled workman.[6] The company held a number of Canadian patents for saw design.[7]
By 1906, Cosmos' son Theodore Shurly was the factory superintendent.[8]
Shurly & Dietrich later expanded into Quebec by purchasing an existing saw factory, Beaver Saw Works, in Sherbrooke.[9]
Between 1904 and 1910 the company expanded its original Galt factory,[10][11] but in 1914 it sustained damage from a fire. By that time they had also built another plant in St. Catharines.[12]
In 1931, Shurly & Dietrich merged with another saw manufacturer, E. C. Atkins of Hamilton, and became Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins.[13][14]
During World War II, Shurly Dietrich produced about 40,000 tons of light armoured plate,[15] bringing in workers from Newfoundland to supplement the workforce.[16]
In 1957, Shurly Dietrich was one of two main saw manufacturers in Canada.[17] By 1968 about 1,400,000 feet of band saw blades designed for cutting metal and over 1,000,000 jigsaw blades were being manufactured each year.[15]
In 1969, Shurly Dietrich was acquired by H.K. Porter.
In 1973, Shurly Dietrich closed its plant after one hundred years in business.
References edit
- ^ a b "Mfg. - Shurly Dietrich Saw Makers, Canada - Toolemera.com". toolemera.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-07.
- ^ "Cosmos John Shurly b. 11 Feb 1835 London, England d. 7 Feb 1918 Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo Region Generations".
- ^ "Jerome Colwell Dietrich b. 2 Apr 1838 Victor, Ontario, New York, USA d. 6 Oct 1925 Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo Region Generations".
- ^ Anson Albert Gard (1904). The Hub and the Spokes: Or, The Capital and Its Environs. Emerson Press.
- ^ "Docking Saw", Lee Valley Woodworking Newsletter, ol. 4, Issue 5. May 2010
- ^ "Shurly & Dietrich". Industries of Canada : Historical and Commercial Sketches : Hamilton and environs, M. G. Bixby & Co., 1886.
- ^ Canada. Patent Office (1889). Canadian Patent Office Record. pp. 1–.
- ^ Charles Whately Parker; Barnet M. Greene (1935). Who's who in Canada: An Illustrated Biographical Record of Men and Women of the Time. International Press Limited.
- ^ Hardware: Devoted to the American Hardware Trade... 1899.
- ^ The Canadian Engineer. Monetary Times Print. Company. 1904.
- ^ American Machinist. McGraw-Hill. 1910.
- ^ Contract Record and Engineering Review. H.C. MacLean Publications. 1914.
- ^ Carpenter. 1931.
- ^ "Canadian Saw Manufacturers Merge Interests". Hardware Age. David Williams Company. January 1931.
- ^ a b "Welcome to Southworks Outlet Mall - About Southworks". www.southworks.ca. Archived from the original on 2001-06-04.
- ^ Dearlove, Karen, “(Im)Migration and Community Building:Newfoundlanders in Cambridge, Ontario”, Paper presented at York University,Toronto, May 2006
- ^ Great Britain. Board of Trade; Great Britain. Commercial Relations and Exports Dept (1957). Canada: Economic and Commercial Conditions in Canada. H.M. Stationery Office.