The Forwarding Trade at Prescott

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted June, 2004

Plaque Location

The United Counties of Leeds & Grenville
The Town of Prescott
On the southwest corner of Water Street and Centre Street
1 block south of King Street

Coordinates: N 44 42.517 W 75 30.842

Plaque Text

Before the completion of the canals between here and Montreal in 1847, Prescott was the eastern terminus of Great Lakes navigation. Established at the head of Galops Rapids in 1810, it soon became a centre for the forwarding, or shipping, trade and an important centre in Montreal's commercial system. One of the earliest forwarders at Prescott was Captain William Gilkison, who began operations on this property about 1811. As the population of Upper Canada increased rapidly after 1820, the trade expanded and forwarding firms, including Henderson & Hooker and Macpherson, Crane & Co., established shipbuilding yards, wharfs, and warehouses along this waterfront. Prescott's position in the forwarding trade began to decline in 1847 when uninterrupted navigation from Montreal to Lake Ontario became possible.

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Industry

Other Plaques in Prescott
Bytown and Prescott Railway Company 1850
Capture of Ogdensburg 1813
Colonel Edward Jessup 1735-1816
Fort Wellington
Grand Trunk Railway Prescott
Major James Morrow Walsh 1840-1905
Prescott Barracks and Hospital
Sir Richard William Scott 1825-1913

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