| Notes |
- Art is the son of Sarah Bannan & Geo. Thomas Knightm both of Woodford, Ontario.
. Arthur Knight owned the Knight Hardware & Lumber Store in Meaford.
. Arthur & Maggie travel to Florida with her brothers, Doug & Neil Felker.
Their adopted son John Knight of Florida.
. 2016 - Knigts Home Building Center Why 26, RR 4 Meaford.
Our customers can find a range of both hardware & building centre products. Everything from lumber, tools, paint, plumbing & electrical supplies are available. We also have an extensive selection of building materials for all your home renovation needs. Our friendly & knowledgeable staff are always willing to help you with any home improvement question you may have.
A little history on Knights' of Meaford, Ge. T Knight moved to the area in 1846, settling in the Woodford area, Sydenham township in 1949. When settling in the area, they started into the building trade, by opening a sawmill, that was located in Meaford on the Big Head River.
In 1912, the Knight family started making hardwood flooring, which is still in business today as Knights' of Meaford Flooring. In 1936 the family store started into the sale of hardware, & over the years, they used various buying groups to get the best assortment & pricing for hardware & building need products for their customers. In 2007 they became a Home Hardware Franchise store. They were originally on Edwin St, before building the store on Hwy 26, where they call home today where they moved to in 2010.
- he first Knight to develop a business was George T Knight, who was born in Sydenham Township in 1849.
In 1870 he started a carriage shop in Woodford where he made wagons, sleighs, & cutters. His first power plant was a wooden windmill he constructed himself to operate his wood working tools. He came to Meaford in 1880 & operated a carriage shop, in the early 80's a sawmill in Centreville, & then to Trowbridge St. & manufactured furniture until 1912 when he formed the Knight Manufacturing & Lumber Co. About this time he retired from active management & his 6 sons took over. As the plant grew, they opened a store on the site & sold building supplies. This became another successful business enterprise & became known as Knights of Meaford. It later became Knights Timberline Store & they now have acquired a lot on Highway 26 & operate Knights Home Hardware.
One of the brothers, Stanley, decided to start a new enterprise. During the depression a large number of businesses found they had financial trouble & were forced to close, but the Knights seemed able to keep their operations running smoothly. When the Seaman-Kent Company, a prominent hardwood flooring plant, closed it doors & was taken over by the town for taxes, Stanley Knight bought it in 1937. He refurbished it & named it Stanley Knight Limited. He then acquired the Beaver Brand name & began manufacturing quality hardwood flooring.
In the beginning he acquired farms that included hardwood bush-lots & shipped the cut logs to the sawmill & then brought them to the plant in horse drawn sleighs or wagons. The open areas were replanted with softwoods & hardwoods. He developed a selective process of having a professional forester mark the trees that were diseased or deformed as well as the ones ready to harvest, leaving a mix of small diameter & mature trees along with trees to be used by wildlife for food & shelter. He recognized the importance of woodlands to the environment & attempted to keep them healthy. Some of the wood waste was used to heat the plant & dry lumber in their kilns, the rest was sold for wood-related products & as livestock bedding on farms. Today they use state-of-the-art equipment & manufacture top quality hardwood flooring under the Beaver Brand. - - -
|
1878 - 1979 (101 years)