In 1884 the Berlin Foundry was being operated by Martin Nelson and G. H. Wright as Nelson & Co. The foundry was located on King street at College. They were making sawmills, steam engines, and "Beaver" brand vises, among other products

By 1901 the Berlin Foundry was being operated by Philip Gies and was making stoves and selling gas, plumbing and electrical supplies. Steam engines had rejoined the product list in 1906 ("The Steam Hardill Engine"). From 1910 onwards, engines are no longer mentioned. In 1916 the Works had become The Philip Gies Foundry and was doing a general foundry and machine-shop trade. Between at least 1929 and 1940 they were advertising "Beaver" vises. By that time they were doing a significant business in fire hydrants. Also during this era they were making a cast-iron grinder arbor.

In 1956 the Philip Gies Foundry Co. was acquired by the Darling Valve and Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which operated it under the Gies name until 1967, when it combined all its operations as the Canada Valve and Hydrant Co.

Information Sources

• 1884-5—Waterloo County Gazetteer and Directory, in an overview of the city of Berlin: "The Berlin Foundry has been established 12 years and employs 25 hands in the manufacture of steam engines, boilers, steam pumps, saw mills, mill machinery, &c. Nelson & Co." The directory listings are "BERLIN FOUNDRY, Nelson & Co., King cor College" and "NELSON & CO, (Martin Nelson and G. H. Wright), props Berlin Foundry, manf. steam engines, boilers, steam pumps, saw mill, mill machinery, &c., King cor College".
• 1901-03 Vernon's Berlin and Waterloo Directory for 1901 to 1903 (PDF) lists, at 114 King St. W., the Berlin Foundry. Also listed is "GIES, PHILIP, stoves, etc, 13 King w, h 45 Queen s". A text ad reads, "For furnaces and stoves, tinware and graniteware, gas and electric supplies, pluming, heating and tinsmithing, Go to Philip Gies, Walper Block, King Street. Repairing promptly attended to."
• 1906 Ontario Commercial Year Book and Gazetteer for 1906 (PDF) lists BERLIN FOUNDRY CO., The, corner Water and Charles streets, Berlin, as makers of Hot Water Boilers, Pumps ("Manufacturers of Anderson Pumps"), Steam Engines ("THE STEAM HARDILL ENGINES"),
• 1910-11 Vernon's Berlin and Waterloo Directory for 1910 to 1911 (PDF) lists Berlin Foundry, P. Gies, prop, 36 Water".
• 1916—The Catholic Church in Waterloo County, by Theobald Spetz, has an ad: "PHILIP GIES FOUNDRY / Special Machinery, Castings and General Jobbing / Cor. Water and Charles Sts., Kitchener, Ont."
• 1929—Kitchener, The Industrial City, ed. J. P. Jaffray, has an ad from this firm: "Grey iron, brass and aluminum castings, machine and pattern works, Beaver vises and superior grates, municipal and builder's castings, mine cars".
• 1940 Canadian Trade Index.

  Gies, Phillip, Foundry, Limited, 36 Water St., S., Kitchener, Ont. Industrial cars, castings. Brand, "Beaver" vises.

• A page at a fire hydrant fancier's site reports that the Canada Valve and Hydrant Co. was acquired by the Philip Gies Foundry in May of 1950; Canada Valve and Hydrant was Gies's biggest customer. In 1956, Darling Valve and Manufacturing acquired both companies. In 1967, the Philip Gies Foundry Ltd., the Canada Valve and Hydrant Co., and Darling Valve and Manufacturing Co., were merged to create Canada Valve Ltd. The Kitchener foundry was closed in 1978.