Second in a series on signs that outlived the businesses they advertised. This one is on the back of the building at 607 Front St. in Nelson and is visible from Lakeside Ave.
According to BC Assessment, the building was put up in 1910. J.Y. Griffin & Co. Ltd. of Winnipeg operated a meat packing business there. W.M. McGillis was listed in the civic directory as the local manager.
In 1914, the directory shows that Swift Canadian Co. was now at that location, with T.E. Lavasseur as the manager. It operated until 1954. The smokehouse chimneys are also left over from this business.
In Tom’s Gray Creek, Vol. II, p. 46-47, Tom Lymbery describes a visit he made to the Swift’s plant in Edmonton in 1949. This operation supplied the Nelson branch with a carload of meat each week for further redistribution throughout the Kootenays.
The building was home for many years to Reo’s Videos but is now DHC Communications and Tu-Dor Lock and Safety.
The envelope below is from my collection.
Thanks for the description, my great-grandfather's brother John Wood worked for Swift Canadian in 1921, I was wondering what they were.