The Tomaterie (Tomato Cannery)

Around the canneryone of the 7 articles

A cannery founded in 1899 by eight parish notables on a leased lot on the route Lelaidier; the plant changed hands again and again until 1956, when Gérard Demers Inc. turned it into a warehouse.

Written in French by Jocelyne Lafond, June 1, 2015. Quotations from period documents are left in the original. Lire l’original en français.

Written by Jocelyne Lafond · published June 1, 2015 · 2 min read · 4 documents

The Tomaterie, and how it began.
1899-c. 1953

Tomatoes have been grown in Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets since the 1850s, the years in which a Norman, Jean-Baptiste Lelaidier, introduced the cultivation of several fruits and vegetables here.
Given how well the tomato crop succeeded, and because the harvest had grown too large to be sold fresh, a few of the parish notables hit on the idea of disposing of the surplus and starting a new venture: a cannery for tomatoes and other vegetables.

On 9 July 1899, several petitioners drew up an application for incorporation, with the aim of founding the « Compagnie de conserves alimentaires Les Becquets , The Becquets Canning Compagny ».

The petitioners were:
-The Honourable Henri-Gédéon Mailhot, retired judge of the Superior Court.
-The Honourable François-Xavier-Ovide Méthot, legislative councillor
-The Reverend Philippe-Antonio Gouin, parish priest of Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets
-Damase Eusèbe Archambault, physician
-Télesphore-Jean Demers, merchant
-Goeffrey Leboeuf, farmer and agronomist
-Alfred Spénard, farmer and agronomist
-Trefflé Demers, farmer and agronomist

On 6 December of that same year, Hector Poisson leased them a lot 140 feet wide by 100 feet deep, on what is now the route Lelaidier, adjoining the north side of the parc de la Tomaterie (also known as the parc Lelaidier); it is reasonable to assume that the buildings were finished by the summer of 1900, in time to can that summer's harvest.

In 1904, an application was filed with the municipal council for a tax exemption, on several grounds: running the "cannery" was expensive, but since many growers depended on it, since a few dozen seasonal jobs had been created, and since a great many residents had invested in the company, it was important to support this local industry. The exemption was granted for a period of 5 years by the municipal council under Mayor Alfred Marchildon.

In 1909, the company mortgaged the plant for $1,338.95 with the Banque Nationale in Deschaillons in order to repay its loans. That was not enough to keep the business alive, and it was sold in December 1912 to Louis Lemay and his son Edmond for the sum of $2,475.00, which was enough to clear the debts.

For more than twenty years the Lemay family kept the plant running, then sold it for $2,500.00 to "La société coopérative agricole de fruits et légumes de la paroisse de Saint-Pierre-les-Becquets," chaired by Edmond Trottier. It was during this period that Cécile Spénard Poisson (see our last article) worked there.

In 1945, Zéphirin Beaudry, a "food canning instructor" from Deschambault, acquired it for $2,500.00, but the decline of tomato growing had already begun, and in 1953 Mr. Beaudry handed the whole thing over to Émilien Paris. In 1956, "Gérard Demers Inc." bought it to use as a warehouse, and that was the end of the industry.