Packingtown Edmonton
The community that became known as Packingtown was established in the early 20thC with Fort Road as its commercial centre. Swift Canadian built a meatpacking plant in 1908, followed by Burns (1911-1913) and Canada Packers (1936). Canadian Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific railways entered the area and Edmonton’s stockyard became second in size only to Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. By the end of WWII meatpacking was a major industrial employer. Workers lived in the area, congregated in local cafés, and created a community. Packingtown’s significance as a meatpacking district ended in the 1980s: in 1980 Burns, and 1984 Canada Packers, converted their plants into distribution centres. Pocklington Financial Corporation purchased the food assets of Swifts in 1980 and re-branded it Gainers. Following a protracted strike in 1986, he defaulted on huge loans from the Alberta government in 1990. The province acquired then sold both Gainers’ plants to Burns in 1994, who sold the assets to Maple Leaf in 1996. The plant closed in 1997. Today there are few tangible remains of the industry or early community. The Burns plant was demolished in 1988; Canada Packers in 1995; the original Swifts building in 2002. Canada Packers’ brick chimney stack is a lone reminder of the meatpacking era. However it is still possible to evoke the community’s history through sound, imagery and text.
Project organizers are interested in conducting recorded interviews with people who worked in meatpacking or related industries or have interesting stories to share about community life. For further information contact Catherine C. Cole at 780-424-2229; [email protected].
To book Maria Dunn's Packingtown Edmonton video ballad, please contact Kirsti at the Ground Zero Productions office at [email protected] or 780-420-1400.
The community that became known as Packingtown was established in the early 20thC with Fort Road as its commercial centre. Swift Canadian built a meatpacking plant in 1908, followed by Burns (1911-1913) and Canada Packers (1936). Canadian Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific railways entered the area and Edmonton’s stockyard became second in size only to Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. By the end of WWII meatpacking was a major industrial employer. Workers lived in the area, congregated in local cafés, and created a community. Packingtown’s significance as a meatpacking district ended in the 1980s: in 1980 Burns, and 1984 Canada Packers, converted their plants into distribution centres. Pocklington Financial Corporation purchased the food assets of Swifts in 1980 and re-branded it Gainers. Following a protracted strike in 1986, he defaulted on huge loans from the Alberta government in 1990. The province acquired then sold both Gainers’ plants to Burns in 1994, who sold the assets to Maple Leaf in 1996. The plant closed in 1997. Today there are few tangible remains of the industry or early community. The Burns plant was demolished in 1988; Canada Packers in 1995; the original Swifts building in 2002. Canada Packers’ brick chimney stack is a lone reminder of the meatpacking era. However it is still possible to evoke the community’s history through sound, imagery and text.
Project organizers are interested in conducting recorded interviews with people who worked in meatpacking or related industries or have interesting stories to share about community life. For further information contact Catherine C. Cole at 780-424-2229; [email protected].
To book Maria Dunn's Packingtown Edmonton video ballad, please contact Kirsti at the Ground Zero Productions office at [email protected] or 780-420-1400.
