1

On November 4, 1954, General Manager Ed Ryan announced to staff and the town of Smiths Falls that Frost & Wood would close in the spring of 1955.

Ryan stated that because of low sales, low demand and unfavourable business prospects, the Cockshutt Plow Company was moving production to its Brantford location.

After 116 years, production at the Frost & Wood Company ceased on April 27, 1955 leaving 400 employees out of work.

2

Frost & Wood Closes
26 July 1976
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

3

Ken Graham talks about some of the reactions workers had when they heard Frost & Wood was closing.

4

Workers Reactions
8 November 1954
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Graham, Ken

5

Don Stoddard talks about his dad coming home after learning Frost & Wood was closing.

6

Out of Work
8 November 1954
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Stoddard, Don

7

After Frost & Wood closed, Cockshutt tried to find a buyer for the property. The Town of Smiths Falls was involved in the sale as well, in hopes of attracting another industry to the town.

Initially, the parties involved hoped to get $225,000 for the factory, but soon found out that few industries wanted to take over 350,000 square feet of 100 year old buildings with outdated infrastructure. The property was even divided into three different parts in hopes of a quicker sale, but to no avail.

8

For Sale
1954-1960
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
University of Guelph Archival & Special Collections

9

The Frost & Wood site remained empty until the winter of 1960. All hopes of selling or leasing the property had fallen through. Plans to demolish the site were set in motion when a company from Toronto expressed interest in building a shopping centre on the site.

10

Frost & Wood to be Demolished
1960-1961
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

11

The demolition of the site was estimated to take six months, and Kepic Wrecking Company Limited from Brantford was hired to demolish the plant. The company employed twenty-five men from Smiths Falls to help with the demolition.

12

Demolishing Frost & Wood
1960-1961
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum

13

Local boy, John Murphy, was hired to help with the tear down of the factory. Making about $1.50 an hour, Murphy moved around large boxes of steel to dump them into boxcars with the help of a Tote Loader. Some of the steel was shipped to Brantford, but most of it was shipped to Japan. The train came everyday down to the plant at 4:00 or 4:30pm to pick up the train cars.

Murphy remembers the winter being so cold, he went up the road to Jasper to buy Paratrooper boots to keep his feet warm. One day the boss, Ernie McEwen, went looking for the boys because the boxcars were not being loaded. After a while, McEwen eventually found them all in the bathroom, huddled around a heater.

14

Frost & Wood Buildings Disappearing
31 August 1961
Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada

Credits:
Heritage House Museum