Made in Lethbridge
By Aimee Benoit - Galt Museum & Archives on February 16, 2021.
What does it mean for something to be “made in” a place? Do raw goods count? How about resources shipped elsewhere for processing? Or items made locally by outside companies? Defining where things are made is not always clear-cut-but a wide range of goods have originated right here in Lethbridge.In the late 1800s entrepreneurs began shipping bison robes and coal from this region to larger markets in the US and Canada. The settlement of Lethbridge developed largely around the coal industry; however, coal production peaked during the First World War (1914-18) and declined steadily afterward due to competition from natural gas.
By the 1920s southern Alberta had become an important agricultural hub, thanks largely to irrigation and the work of the Dominion Experimental Farm (now Lethbridge Research Centre), established in 1906. Some of the earlier food processing operations included the Lethbridge Brewing & Malting Company (established in 1901), the Ellison Milling Company (established in 1907), Catelli Food Products (formed in 1928 through a merger with Lethbridge-based Columbia Macaroni) and Broder Canning (established in 1941).
In 1950 the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce predicted the city “could quite easily develop into another Pittsburgh-and probably will.” As it turns out, Lethbridge did not become an industrial hub at that scale. But by 1965 there were 75 manufacturing facilities in the city, employing some 1200 people. These included Lethbridge Iron Works, founded in 1898 and still operating today as Leth Iron; as well as factories operated by Automatic Electric, Lethbridge Sash & Door and Ducan Canvas, among others.
Today the Lethbridge region is home to more than 120 agri-food processing businesses and a diverse manufacturing base.
Some local specialties include canola, corn, frozen potatoes, livestock and dairy production, trailers and prefabricated homes. Learn more in the Galt’s exhibit Made In, open until May 09, 2021.
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