Gooderham and Worts Distillery
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| Industry | Distiller of alcoholic beverages |
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| Fate | Merged with Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. in 1926; sold to Allied Lyons in 1987 |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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Gooderham and Worts, also known as Gooderham & Worts Limited, was a Canadian distiller of alcoholic beverages. It was once the largest distiller in Canada. The company was merged with Hiram Walker, which was in turn sold to Allied Lyons. Its distillery facility on the Toronto waterfront was closed in the 1990s. The buildings, dating to the 1860s, were preserved and repurposed as the "Distillery District" arts and entertainment district.
The company was founded by James Worts and his brother-in-law, William Gooderham. Worts had owned a mill in Suffolk, England, moved to Toronto in 1831 and established himself in the same business. He built a prominent windmill at the Toronto waterfront near the mouth of the Don River. The next year, Gooderham joined him in Toronto and in the business. The business prospered, processing grain from Ontario farmers and then shipping it out via the port of Toronto.
In 1834, Worts' wife, Elizabeth, died during childbirth. Two weeks later, Worts killed himself by throwing himself into the windmill's well and drowning. Gooderham continued the business himself. With a surplus of wheat, Gooderham expanded the company in 1837 into brewing and distilling, and soon this lucrative business became the firm's primary focus. Gooderham served as the sole manager of the business until 1845, when he made Worts' eldest son, James Gooderham Worts, co-manager. In 1859, work began on a new distillery complex, the area that today is the Distillery District. It was built on the waterfront, with easy access to Toronto's main train lines. In 1862, its first full year of production, the facility made some 700,000 imperial gallons (3,180,000 litres) of spirits. At that time, it was a full quarter of all the spirits produced in Canada.
In the second half of the 19th century, the firm rose to become one of Canada's most prominent industrial concerns. Under the control of William's son, George Gooderham (1830–1905), production increased to over two million gallons a year, half of the entire spirits production of Canada. The distillery itself expanded, becoming one of Toronto's largest employers.
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