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Beer delivery men, about 1910
Musée de Lachine archives, V2c-64,5
Delivering Dawes Black Horse beer
Believing that what was good for the brewery was good for Lachine, the Dawes family was active on all fronts: municipal affairs, river and rail transport, telephone, telegraph and tramway services, as well as philanthropic efforts for St. Andrews Church, the Lachine Rowing Club, Lachine General Hospital and other causes.
The Dawes family also played a key role in convincing the Dominion Bridge Company to locate in Lachine in 1882. Additional evidence of the family’s importance to Lachine’s economy is that, in 1853, the rail link with the pier and the ferry terminus at 21st Avenue was moved further west to accommodate the brewery.