The McLaughlin Carriage Co. was first founded in 1869 by Robert McLaughlin with a carriage shop in Enniskillen.  The business was successful and in 1879, McLaughlin moved the carriage business to Oshawa.  Their first Oshawa location was at Simcoe and Richmond Sts.  The business concentrated on manufacturing carriages rather than wagons and at the time, before the automobile, McLaughlin carriages were world famous.

Photo taken by R.S. McLaughlin in the trim shop at the Carriage Works, 1892
A979.24.2  file 881

A disastrous fire destroyed the McLaughlin Carriage Works the night of December 7, 1899
A927.25.5  file 454

  By 1889, the company moved into the Gibbs Brothers old   factory at William and Mary Sts., but ten years later, a devastating fire almost destroyed the McLaughlin Carriage Company.  While the actual business was still intact, the building itself was in shambles.  Other cities were eager to take the successful, world renowned business away from Oshawa, but when Oshawa offered a loan of $50,000 interest free with 20 years to repay, McLaughlin refused to uproot the business. Instead, the McLaughlin Carriage Co. had a temporary location in Gananoque, Ontario while the factory was being rebuilt.  Six months later, McLaughlin returned to Oshawa, continued to excel and by 1901, was turning out 25,000 carriages a year.