The Don Brewery (originally the Don Bridge Brewery, and later the Davies Brewery) was a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It was one of the largest breweries in 19th century Toronto. It was located along the

Don River The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

in the Corktown neighbourhood of Toronto.

History

The brewery was founded in 1844 by William and Robert Parks as the Don Bridge Brewery. Thomas Davies, who had been running his own brewery, the Yonge Street Brewery, bought the brewery from the Parks in 1848. In 1868, Davies enlisted his son Thomas Jr. to manage the brewery, its name changed to Thomas Davies and Son. Thomas Sr. died not much later, leaving Thomas Jr. in charge. Thomas enlisted his brother Joseph and later his brother

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

in 1872 and renaming the company Davies and Brothers. They expanded the brewery extensively, building a new plant to make

lager Lager () is beer which has been brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "lager" comes from the German for "storage" ...

in 1877. This made the brewery an early adopter of lager brewing in Toronto, ahead of O'Keefe and Cosgrave by several years. In 1879, Robert opened his own brewery, the

Dominion Brewery The Dominion Brewery was a brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1878 until 1936. The brewery was founded by Robert T. Davies in 1877. Davies had been a manager at his brother Thomas' brewery, the Don Brewery on the Don River at ...

, a few blocks west on Queen Street. In 1873, Thomas Jr. won election to City of Toronto alderman. He was one of the proponents of the City accepting

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

High Park High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains ...

. He also led the movement to create Riverdale Park, have the City take over the Furness Water Works and to straighten the Don River next to the brewery, which made room for a rail line next to the brewery. The brewery was sold to the London & Colonial Financial Company in 1889 for , a massive amount at that time. In 1902, the English investors were interested in selling the brewery and it was sold to John Dick in 1903. The brewery was unionized in 1903, the first to unionize in Toronto. The brewery was destroyed by fire, attributed to spontaneous combustion, in 1907 and the brewery shut down completely in 1910. Only the southern lager brewery building survived the fire. Thomas Davies Jr. ran for Toronto Mayor in 1913, but lost. He died in 1916, a few months after his brother Robert.

Today

The site is occupied by residential buildings. Only the brewery's lager brewery, survives to the present day. It was converted to condominium apartments known as the Malthouse Building. It was designated a heritage structure in 1996.

References

* ;Notes {{coord, 43.6578, N, 79.3569, W, source:wikidata, display=title Brewery buildings Buildings and structures in Toronto Manufacturing companies based in Toronto Food and drink companies based in Toronto 1849 establishments in Canada West Designated heritage properties in Ontario Canadian companies established in 1849