Richardson Grain Elevators

Kingston’s waterfront has long been dominated by towering buildings that dwarf the elegant outlines of the cathedral behind. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was grain elevators that towered above the busy wharves and shipping. Many of these were constructed by James Richardson (one of Kingston’s successful and generous entrepreneurs and philanthropists), but not all. In 1899, the Montreal Transportation Company also built an 800,000 bushel capacity elevator. This view of the skyline must have been taken from the bridge that spanned the Cataraqui on fine summer morning.