McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Type of Building Series
Series
3.5 m of photographs
The Canada Cement Company was incorporated in 1909 by Max Aitken (Lord Beaverbrook), who merged eleven cement companies in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. For most of the period documented by this photographic collection, it was the largest cement company in Canada headquartered in Montreal. Using the Portland system of cement production, the Company expanded quickly until the Depression. Recovering in the late 1940s, the Company enlarged and modernized its Montreal East Plant, Plant No. 1 located in Pointe-aux-Trembles. By 1954 this plant with its heavily-bedded argillaceous limestone quarry was producing 30 percent of Canadian cement. The Company maintained other plants in Hull, Quebec; Port Colborne and Belleville, Ontario; Fort Whyte, Manitoba; and Exshaw, Alberta, as well as other various operations. In the later years, the Company became Canada Cement Lafarge and is now part of an international cement enterprise.
The Type of Building series includes progress and "as finished" photographs of buildings constructed by Canada Cement. Usually there will be several photos (often as many as 20) showing the various phases of the project, both in details and in full. The projects include airports, churches, concrete masonry, homes, prestressed materials, and stadiums. Structures were built in most areas of Canada. Many of the projects, such as dams, include distance and aerial views. The majority of photos in this series appear to date from 1940 to 1980, although there are many from ca. 1915 to 1940. Nearly all photos are identified on the back or on the envelope containing them. Negatives and information sheets about the building are sometimes included. Occasionally there is correspondence, mainly of the Publicity and Sales Department of Canada Cement. (This series was called the "Old Photo" series by Company administration).
Arranged alphabetically by structure type (Airports-Swimming Pools), each type of building subdivided by region.