Item M992.32 - Watercolour of Woodbridge Agricultural and Machine Works

Item consists of a watercolour. Image depicts Woodbridge Agricultural and Machine Works, western elevation; includes images of workmen standing in fornt of the factory, thus providing a sense of scale; evidence suggests that the plant opened in 1849, and for the next 36 years played a significant role in the growth and prosperity of the village; by 1874, the factory employed 200 men. In 1880 and 1881 Abell's Triumph Tractor Steam Engine was awarded the Gold Medal in tests at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, and it received awards of distinction at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London, England. Abell relocated his plant to Toronto in 1885 as a direct consequence of the Toronto, Grey, and Bruce Railway's refusal to construct a switch line from the main line to his factory.