Nelsonville
Sometimes opportunity knocked and a pioneer responded.
In the accounts passed down by the first settlers in Manitoba’s
southwestern corner the name Nelsonville keeps popping up. It was a
stop along their trek westward from Emerson. It was where they were
able to buy their last supplies before heading into a land that didn’t
yet have stores or other services.
It sounds like it was an important place, but you won’t find it on any
modern map.
It is perhaps the best example of a Manitoba boom town.
It is fitting that the first gristmill west of Emerson was built there.
The
region in 1884, showing Postal & Stage Rotes.
When the Adam Nelson homesteaded in the area north of present day
Morden, starting a mill wasn’t part of the plan. Mr. Nelson was one of
many who had selected a property sight unseen. When he arrived, he was
at first a little concerned by the stands of trees on what he had hoped
would be typical open prairie – ready for the plow.
So one of his first projects was to build a grist and sawmill on Silver
Creek. Mr. Pugh – ran the sawmill. A shingle mill is also mentioned.
The village followed, and soon it was a busy place. It was incorporated
as a town, now officially named Nelson, in 1882. Choice corner lots
were selling for as much as $1000. A substantial brick town hall
was erected with rooms for the Land Registry Office, a County Court,
and a Council Chamber. A full range of stores and services lined the
Main Street. The Dominion Government had virtually promised that the
CPR would run through Nelsonville and proceed westward.
By 1880 the Nelsons had moved their mill to the rival boomtown Manitoba
City.
![](CommunityImages/NelosnvilleLOMap.jpg)
Rival
communities, Nelsonville and Mountain City. The Land Office located at
Nelsonville is another indication of its importance.
In 1879 a second operation was started at Nelsonville. It was
built by the Duncan Brothers, and a Mr.Stevenson, under the firm name
of the Nelson Milling Co. Mr. Fraser purchased the operation in
1881 and called it the Belmont Mills. By 1883 the press reported that,
“having recently re-fitted and improved, (the mills) are now in full
blast.”
And finally, in January of 1886, we learn that Mr. Nelson’s flour and
saw-mill, was burned to the ground.
At that time the mills, which were considered old landmarks in Southern
Manitoba, were the leading mills of that section of the country and
commanded the trade of 100 miles of fair farming country.
The insurance amounted to $2,500, and the loss was estimated at $10,000.
An
advertisement in Nelsonville’s Manitoba Mountaineer newspaper of 7
September 1883 advised that the Nelson Brick and Tile Manufacturing
Company was offering 30,000 “First Class Hard Bricks” for sale, along
with a “large quantity of Soft Bricks, at $10 per thousand.”
Mountain City
Mountain City, was also vying for the right to be seen as the
commercial centre of the region. The Nelson Mills appeared to thrive
for a few years. On Dec. 2, 1880, a news report from Mountain
City, reported that: “Messrs Nelson and Pugh have to keep their mill
running night and day to fill orders and yet cannot supply demand.”
In what was to become a familiar story across western Canada, the
railway surprised everyone and passed between the two towns and created
Morden, in a bare field along Dead Horse Creek. The first two towns in
the region just disappeared, their buildings moved or dismantled.
![](CommunityImages/MountainCityAp27.81AdClip1.jpg)
This ad
from April 27, 1881 goes on to list the gristmill and sawmill as
features of the town. Unlike the many exaggerated claims made for boom
towns, these services were indeed available in Mountain City.
Press Clips
S: MFP, March 2, 1881, p. 1.
“Nelsonville News” – “Mr. Fraser, of the
late C.P.R. firm of Fraser, Pitblado and Company, has purchased the
mill and is coming to reside here at once.”
S: Nwfmm, November 1883, p. 277.
“The Belmont Mills, at Nelson, owned
by James H. Fraser, Esq., having recently been re-fitted and improved,
are now in full blast.”
S: Nwfmm, January 1886, p. 354.
“The Nelson, Manitoba flour and
saw-mill, owned by Mr. James Fraser, was burned to the ground lately.
The damage was $10,000 with slight insurance. The cause of the fire is
unknown, the mill having been shut down nearly twelve hours when the
fire was discovered.”
The flour mill contained three run of stone and the saw mill had a
daily capacity of 10,000 feet of lumber. They were erected by Messrs.
Duncan Brothers and Stevenson under the firm name of the Nelson Milling
Company in 1879. Mr. Fraser purchased them in 1881, the price paid
being about $8,000.
The fire was discovered about 5 a.m., but having made considerable
headway, resulted in a total loss. The cause of the fire is unknown,
but is supposed to have originated in the engine room. The insurance
amounted to $2,500 and the loss is estimated at $10,000.
![](images/hline.gif)
Glenora
Glenora can lay claim to being the first “town” in the RM of Argyle in
that there was a half-hearted effort to promote the original site of
Glenora by the usual method of selling lots to speculators. The site,
unlike the many other wonder towns, did have both some potential and
some actual commercial activity. That commercial activity included a
sawmill, a store, an implement dealer and a grist mill built in 1882 by
Blaine & Reid (SE of 20-3-l3).
It was the grist mill that is credited with providing Glenora with its
name. It was named after an Ogilvie Co. mill near Montreal that
was called Glenora Mill, and produced “Glenora Patent” flour.
Winnipeg
Daily Sun - Sept. 13, 1881
![](CommunityImages/GlenoraAd81.09.13.WDS.jpg)
Winnipeg Daily Sun - Dec 3, 1884
Interestingly, although the ad in the Winnipeg Sun from September of
1881 has clearly identified the townsite of Glenora (without giving the
exact location!), at least one pioneer recalls that “I never heard any
name except “Mill and Store” for that village”. Named or not, it was
the commercial centre of the region for a short time and is recalled in
several pioneer reminiscences. Alex Rankin from Killarney recalls
traveling to Glenora “for grists”. A Clearwater pioneer remembers
that the first trip for “grists” was to Glenora. The mill burned in
1885 and it appears that the store may have closed soon after, but the
name was well enough established to be resurrected when the railway
finally arrived a few kilometers to the northeast. The millstone
from that mill has been carefully placed on grounds of St. George’s
Anglican Church, in Glenora.
Glenora Press
S: Nwfmm, Dec. 1885, p.313.
“The Glenora saw and grist mill at Rock Lake, owned
by Blain and Co., was burned to the ground at 4 o’clock in the morning
of Sunday, 28th Oct. The damage amounts from $8,000 to $10,000
without insurance.”
S: Commercial, December 18, 1883.
“A new grist mill is being erected at
Glenora, by Messrs. Blain and Reeves. It is expected to be in operation
in a little over a month.”
S: Commercial, May 3, 1887, p. 654.
“The settlers in the Glenora
district, Turtle Mountain, are agitating for a roller flour mill, and a
bonus by-law may be submitted.
S: Nwfmm, December 1885, p. 313.
“The Glenora saw and grist mill at
Rock Lake, owned by Blain and Company, was burned to the ground at 4
o’clock in the morning of Sunday, October 28. The damage amounts to
from $8,000 to $10,000 with no insurance
The Preston Lime Kiln
There were about 12 lime kilns in the region. For years, the Cooper
Bros. operated a lime kiln east of the top of Victoria Hill, near
Neelin.
The most notable was operated by the Preston Brothers and Herman Davis
on the steep north shore of Rock Lake not far from Glenora. It started
in operated from1893 until 1903 and was one of the largest kilns in
Western Manitoba. It was one of two Preston family lime kilns. This one
had a 20 bushel capacity.
It is one of the best-preserved examples of a lime kiln in the region.
Small
kilns are common throughout the region but the Preston kiln was larger
than most.
![](CommunityImages/GlenoraKiln2.jpg)
Like many kilns it was located on a slope, allowing access to the
bottom level where the fire was tended. Rock Lake is in the background.
The view
from below.
![](images/hline.gif)
Pilot
Mound
A curious
elevation of land a bit east of Rock Lake was a reliable landmark for
generations of Aboriginal and Metis hunters, Canadian fur traders, and
early European settlers who travelled in the Pembina Mountain country.
The
mound and the vault left behind when buildings were moved to the “new”
village of Pilot Mound.
By 1879
there were quite a few homesteads being taken in the area and a spot on
the eastern slope of what was then known as “Little Dance Hill” was
chosen for a village. The first general store came in 1880, and was
followed by more stores and services. One of those services was a
gristmill built on the banks of the nearby creek by T.P. and Ben White.
There was a sawmill on the east side of the mound run by McIntosh and
McKenzie, by the brickyard At first a Mr. Carson made bricks by hand.
Later Harry Steadman operated the yard, and later still Tom Dearlove
provided a horse-power machine. R.J. Duncan provided a steam
engine in trade for bricks.
There was a lime kiln on the east side of the mound, by the
brickyard. It was operated by Mr. Beveridge.
Once again the “old” town was replaced with the arrival of the railway.
In the early days of the new town, George White operated a grist mill
and McDonald and Band built another mill. This last one was sold to Dow
and Will, and burned down.
In 1893 “Great West Oatmeal Mills” was built by George Dow and
Adam Curry. A large building was erected and it was a quite a success
for some time. They shipped their product far and wide, including to
Britain.
Press Clips
S: CH, Memories of Pioneer days at Pilot Mound, William Reid, 1903, p.
15.
“A flour and grist mill was built on the banks of the creek by T.P.
and Ben White.” – c.1882.
S: Nwfmm, May 1889, p. 133.
“T. McKay, J.B. Barid, Jno. Hiebert, W.A.
Donald, Jno. M. Fraser, Jno. Knox, W. Carson, J.B. Gordon and W.C.
burns, of Pilot Mound, Manitoba, are applying for incorporation as the
Pilot Mound Milling Company, with power to carry on at Pilot Mound and
elsewhere in Manitoba, a milling, flour, grain and elevating business.
Capital $16,000. An American firm offer to supply the company with
machinery for a roller four mill. The price asked is $7,327. In
addition the engine will cost $1,575, without boilers. The mill to be
75 barrel capacity. Another firm at Minneapolis offer to provide all
the machinery required, including engine, for $10,000.
S: Nwfmm, July 1889, p. 187.
“Letters patent have been issued
incorporating T. McKay, [et al.], as the Pilot Mound Milling Company
Limited. Capital $16,000.”
- “The new roller process flour mill at
Pilot Mound, will leave the old one unused for making flour, and as
there are the building, stones and machinery “
S: Nwfm, January 1890, p. 372.
“A public meeting was recently held at
Pilot Mound, Manitoba to consider the proposal of Mr. Messner to move
the St. Leon mills there. It was stated the buildings and machinery
would be moved to Pilot Mound if farmers would assist with their teams
in the removal. A bonus of $1,000 would also be required. The well and
ground owned by the Pilot Mound Milling Company would be taken as part
of the bonus. The establishment consists of a stone flour mill, a
barley and oatmeal mill.”
S: Nwfm, April 1890, p. 461.
“Pilot Mound was one of the earliest
places in the province to have a grist mill, and has always been a
first rate centre for such a business. The mill from the old town was
moved over among other buildings when the new town was started, but was
behind the requirements of the times, and business difficulties
prevented its being successfully operated. At last Mr. Frazer, the
pioneer of the settlement, made an arrangement with Mr. Whitelaw, of
Woodstock, Ontario, to move his flour mill from Darlingford and the
oatmeal mill from St. Leon, to be located on the site provided by the
joint stock company last year. Besides giving a site and well free, the
town gives $500 bonus when the machinery is laid down, $500 more when
the mill is completed, and $700 more in March, 1891. The roller mill
will make over 60 barrels of flour a day, and the oatmeal mill will
have the same capacity. Stones for chopping will also be put in, and as
fuel is reasonably low and the district well settled a first-rate
business may be relied on . Farmers have been busy hauling the oatmeal
mill machinery from St. Leon, a distance of 25 miles, and the work will
be pushed rapidly to completion.”
S: Nwfm, June 1890, p. 522.
“R. Whitelaw of Woodstock, Ontario is
having plans prepared for the new mill which he will erect this year at
Pilot Mound, Manitoba.”
S: Nwfm, October 1890, p. 639.
“The new engine and other machinery for
the Pilot Mound, Manitoba flour and oatmeal mills has arrived.
Millwrights from Ontario are placing it in position.”
![](images/hline.gif)
Wakopa
A Cairn
marks the general locality of Wakopa
The first entrepreneur in the Turtle Mountain district was a fur
trader, Bernard B La Rivière.
He settled in Nelsonville, a would-be boom town, that quickly
disappeared when Morden was established. On a hunting trip to Turtle
Mountain in 1876, he saw an opportunity. The Red River valley was
already dotted with farming communities. Everyone knew that European
settlers would be pushing westward soon. Treaties were being
signed and railways were being planned. Homestead regulations were
being formulated.
He decided to be ahead of the crowd, to have a stopping place and store
up and running for when the trickle of traders, surveyors, and
travellers already venturing westward gave way to a steady stream of
homesteaders. There would be many of them and they would need supplies.
Just as a would-be gas station owner in later times would prefer to be
on a highway, La Rivière had the same plan. The Boundary Commission
Trail was the highway. He selected a spot on the Long River, just east
of the slope of Turtle Mountain, a spot once used by Assiniboine
hunters as a camping place.
They were quickly followed by the Harrison Brothers and Mr. Williams
who built a sawmill and gristmill powered by water wheels and using
grinding stones brought from France. Soon the first sod and log homes
gave way to buildings of milled lumber. The first frame house in the
Turtle Mountain area was built in 1880
The development of the grain business began in Wakopa long before the
railway was built through Boissevain and Killarney. In 1878 Matthew
Harrison built saw and flour mills in the new village. The mill was
powered by a water wheel on the banks of Long River. George Bennett
brought the first gristmill stones to Wakopa, imported from France.
A water wheel also powered the family sawmill. To accommodate the
settlers who brought their wheat from afar by oxen to be ground into
flour, the family built a boarding house and large livery barn.
These businesses, along with B.B. Lariviere’s Store and Stopping Place
established Wakopa as an important place. People came to Wakopa,
bringing grain to be ground into flour, or buying lumber at the sawmill.
Meals were served at the Harrison home, at La Riviere’s, and at Mrs. J.
Melville’s boarding house.
Winnipeg
Daily Sun, April 28, 1884
The coming
of the railway to Killarney doomed this busy centre. The brothers
disassembled their mill and built Killarney's first grain elevator.
Later they built a gristmill at Holmfield that would serve the area for
many decades.
On the second floor of that historic building one can still see the
rough cut 2 by 6’s that were sawn at the old Wakopa for the Harrison’s
next enterprise.
And a visitor to the Turtle Mountain Flywheel Clun Museum in Killarney
can see the machinery from the original Wakopa gristmill on display.
Mill stones are in various places. One is in the Cairn at Wakopa and
one is in the museum in Boissevain.
Cheese Factory
John Hettle formed a company in 1885, of which T. A. Sharpe and the
Young brothers were directors, to operate a steam-powered butter and
cheese factory on Sharpe's Creek on NE 26-1-19. Later the herd had to
be destroyed because of disease and the factory was dismantled.
Press Clips
S: Nwfmm, August 1883, p. 218.
"It is estimated that the loss by the
burning of the mills at Wakopa will amount to at least $8,000."
S: Nwfmm, May 1887, p. 838.
"William Harrison, proprietor of the grist
mills at Wakopa, Manitoba, will put in roller process machinery."
![](images/hline.gif)
Pembina
Crossing
The
Boundary Commission Trail crossed the Pembina River in a broad valley
south of present day Manitou. Crossings were often likely spots
to establish a Stopping Place and other services. As always, good
crossings on the Boundary Trail were not necessarily chosen by the
railway.
Pembina
Crossing, south of Manitou (no date)
Source: Ed
Grassick
This item from the media at the time sums up the vitality of the
community in 1882.
“Pembina Crossing 1882. (From the Manitoba Mountaineer, Nelsonville,
Manitoba)
This city is known as the Pembina Crossing and this is written at the
Pioneer's Rest, and William P. Hutchinson, proprietor - a first class
host who boasts a billiard table, a sample room, a new organ and
organist, with lots of good singing every night, a splendid bill of
fare, and all for $4.00 per week. Ten regular boarders, besides his own
family and hired help. Is furnishing wood for grist mill that is
running here. It is grinding for fifteen cents per bushel. Take that,
ye extortionists. The town boasts a general store, post office, a
blacksmith shop, two hotels.
William and his sister, Jeannette, established a Stopping Place and a
butcher shop at Pembina Crossing in the early 1880's for the benefit of
the homesteaders who were using that route to enter Canada from the
United States.
Some other press clipping from the era provide additional details…
June 2, 1881. The Queen's birthday (May 24) was royally celebrated here
by a large assembly in the following manner: foot races, horse race,
pony race, a lively game of baseball was much enjoyed by the boys. We
were also glad to see a grand turnout of the much- needed sex in
Manitoba. (Emerson International.)
"Mr. H. H. Black, a dentist by profession, arrived in the Pembina
Crossing district from Emerson by team, in June 1880. He had married in
Halifax, NS, and afterwards traveled through the United States as far
as Colorado. His father (George C.) and his elder brother (George)
lived in Winnipeg. H. H. Black did not wish to be a dentist and he
loved "the outdoors." Therefore he took up a homestead (SEI/4 24-2-9W),
but due to an injured foot, Mr. Black was unable to carry on with
farming.
Old St.
Luke’s Pembina Crossing Anglican Church (Archives of Manitoba)
Originally a general store, post office, and saloon, built in May 1880,
this log building was in use until 1920 when it was replaced by a new
building, which opened on 26 September 1920. The following year, by an
unfortunate accident, it burned down although most of the furniture and
fittings were saved. In 1922, it was replaced by the present structure,
a municipally-designated historic site as of 2011.
St. Luke’s
Pembina Crossing Anglican Church (August 2018)
Source:
George Penner
Clearwater,
Neelin & Preston
At the
time this map was drawn in the early 1890’s, Neelin (near the site of
Roseberry) was not yet created, an Glenora was just a Post Office south
of where the town would be located.
Clearwater
The village of Clearwater existed for nearly five years in the valley
below where the current village sits, and only had to move a short
distance to be on the line. It was a busy little place with a few
stores, a boarding house and a hotel. There was a blacksmith, a tailor,
a shoemaker, and a doctor.
William Coulthard and his brothers John and Tom came to “Old”
Clearwater in 1881, and built a gristmill on the river. Locals report
that it made “very fair flour, but if the wheat was badly frozen it was
out of the question to get good bread from the flour.”
There are very few other mentions of this mill, but one press report
indicates that it was being upgraded in 1893. Proximity to other
towns may have made it unnecessary.
Neelin
Mill machinery was valuable. When one closed the machinery was
generally moved elsewhere. The short-lived Pembina Crossing mill was
given a new life in Neelin, at the western edge of Rock Lake. Watson
and Cowie, set up both a sawmill and a gristmill in the valley, using
water power from a fast flowing spring. By damming up the spring in the
evening, there was enough power to run the mill all the next day.
Eventually this mill was changed to steam power, and the spring just
used to wash away the sawdust.
The mills were destroyed by a prairie fire. There are two reports as to
just when that happened. One says, this mill, along with the other two
in the valley, was destroyed in the big prairie fire of 1886.
Another report offers different details…”In 1893, a prairie fire swept
through and left devastation in its wake. It was not checked until it
had reached J. Brinkworths. Trees, logs for buildings, game and stock
were not spared. It burned the Cowie and Watson Grist and Sawmill. They
did not rebuild.“
Prairie fires were common, sometimes with tragic results, but generally
property damage was the main concern.
John Montague had two sawmills, one on the Neelin farm and one at
Kelly's creek.
Lime Kiln
The Cooper Bros. operated a lime kiln east of the top of Victoria Hill.
Roseberry Lime Kiln was on the W.W. Sexsmith farm at 2-4-14.
Bricks
Mr. Rossom and W.W. Sexsmith made some sample bricks at the Roseberry
Lime Kiln on the Sexsmith farm (2-4-14) intending to produce if orders
were places.
Cheese Factory
William Coutts , who homesteaded about three kilometres north of Neelin
( 36-3-15) was a outstanding teacher, and also deeply interested in the
affairs of the community. Largely through his efforts a cheese factory
was established which operated successfully in the district for several
years.
Preston
On several maps from the 1880’s one finds Preston, west of Pilot Mound.
In 1879 a saw and grist mill was built by James Preston on 13-3-12, a
store too was built at this location. The machinery for the mill was
brought from Ontario and freighted from Emerson in 1879 by neighbours
with horses and oxen.
A short article in the Winnipeg Free Press in the winter of 1880
commented:
“in Preston which takes its name from three families who moved in
there one year ago. Being enterprising businessmen. they already have a
sawmill in operation, and are making active preparations for a grist
mill. They are offering free building sites to business men and
mechanics who will become permanent settlers. “
Lumber from the Preston sawmill was used in the first church west of
the Pembina at Crystal City in 1879.
R.S.
Preston During 1881 the mills were burned down. The
sawmill was later rebuilt in the valley, but only operated for a short
time as Mr. Preston had the misfortune of having his arm cut off by the
saw.
A plaque
at the site of Goudney School (SE 14-3-12) reads.
“This steam boiler is the only
remaining artifact of the sawmill that
was built by James B. Preston on the creek a short distance west from
the bridge, ¼ mile north of this site. The sawmill operated from 1879 –
till destroyed by fire in 1881 and supplied lumber for much of the
first construction in the area. Placed her by Goudney Memorial
Committee A.D. 1980.”
Press Clips
S: AM, March 1, 1884, p. 137.
“Watson and Cowie are establishing a mill
at the head of Rock Lake, Manitoba, the machinery for which is brought
from the grist mill at Pembina Crossing, which is now dismantled.”
![](images/hline.gif)
Cartwright
& Mather
People
these days tend to forget the extent to which things were manufactured
locally. Perhaps this is because we are so far removed from the site of
the production of many of the goods we consume that we haven’t thought
about how the process isn’t always difficult to create on a small scale.
![](CommunityImages/CartwrightAd.jpg) |
Cartwright
Before the 1900's, a cheese factory was started by W.G. Robinson it
operated for only a short time. Oscar Beach began making cheese at his
farm home. Mr. Beach made good cheese and supplied nearby towns, as
well as local trade, for several years.
About 1902, S. S. Mayers started the S. S. Mayers Stock Medicine
Factory, and the remedies became quite renowned. By 1905 this company
was shipping up to 179 boxes and pails of their preparations a week.
There were agencies for these medicines in over two hundred other
towns. In 1910, he moved the business to Winnipeg.
Press Items
S: NWFMM, April 1889, p. 100.
“A stock company comprising R.A.
Sheppard, John Gimby, John Wallace, George B. Wray, A. Davidson, T.S.
Mennary and E.D. Coates, will build a small mill at Cartwright,
Manitoba.”
Mather
Mather was one of a few communities that produced soft drinks.
John
Davie and Walter Small had a soft drink factory beginning in
1913.
The product was called “Jersey Cream”. They started on their farm, but
moved in to Mather. They made deliveries to the neighbouring towns of
Clearwater and Cartwright.
|
Crystal
City
Crystal
City, as the name implies, was created by optimists. It was, in a sense
a planned community, established by Thomas Greenway who toured the
region in 1878 and returned with settlers the following year. It was
the site of the first registered Church building west of Emerson. It
would naturally have been the site of a flour mill.
Although local history volumes offer scant details about the mill. We
do find mention tha the son of Thomas Greenway worked in the Rolling
Mill in town. Another report has a flour mill “south of the elevators”
that burned down.
The press however offers a sort of timeline of events - the outline of
the story. From it one sees a familiar pattern. Ownership changes were
routine. Moving and starting elsewhere was common.
Press Clips
S: Nwfmm, November 1883, p. 299.
“Crystal City mills commenced
operations on the first of this month.”
S: Nwfmm, February 1884, p. ____.
“The Louise municipal council at
their recent meeting, held at Rock Lake, decided to relieve the grist
mill at Crystal City, and Clearwater, from paying taxes.”
S: AM, June 1, 1885, p. 302.
“The grist mill at Crystal City, Manitoba
is to be moved to Snowflake, Manitoba.”
S: Nwfmm, June 1888, p. ____.
“I have just finished changing a mill
from burrs to roles for Cochrane and Manson, Crystal City, Manitoba on
the short system of three reductions of wheat and three on middlings –
Millwright.”
S: Nwfmm, April 1889, p. 100.
“Mr. Crawford, of the Crystal City,
Manitoba mill, will build another one at the station, larger than the
one he owns at the old town site. A bonus in wheat, to be delivered
next fall, is offered him.”
S: Nwfm, December 1889, p. 340.
“The roller mill at Crystal City,
Manitoba is now running.”
S: The Commercial, 1893, p. 634.
- Owner J.W. Cochrane with 125 barrel
capacity per day.
Cheese Factory
Alexander Taylor managed a cheese factory at Crystal City.
Some ads placed in a promotional publication in about 1911 remind us
the custom made clothing was an option in Crystal City, a sort of
manufacturing on a small scale.
Promoting Industrial Growth
Crystal City was probably not alone in actively seeking out
manufacturers. The ad offers a perspective on what a “progressive” town
would see as important.
![](images/hline.gif)
|