Moosomin, Saskatoon – A company that started in Moosomin 118-years ago had returned to Saskatchewan.
E.B. Horsman & Son is an independent family-owned company, whose history dates back to when this part of the world was known as the Northwest Territories.
The company’s history page on its website notes, “At the turn of the 20th Century, George Dennis Horsman left home in Hamilton, Ontario and bought a CPR rail pass to move west. Not knowing what to expect, his only possessions were a Colt revolver and a knapsack. He stopped in Regina to work at a local hardware store. Shortly thereafter, a hardware store in Moosomin, Saskatchewan, a village on the CPR main line, became available. Unfortunately, because he was underage (under 21 years of age), he was unable to proceed with the purchase. Undeterred, George Dennis contacted his father, Edward B. Horsman who agreed to meet his son in Moosomin and in the early fall days of 1900, the company E.B. Horsman and Son was formed.
“In 1907 George Dennis Horsman married a local Saskatchewan girl. Their honeymoon was a trip to Vancouver, B.C. Whatever their reason, it took them only 24 hours to fall in love with Vancouver. In a matter of hours they had cashed in their return tickets and telegraphed E.B. to sell out and join them in paradise. In the fall of 1907 the company name, E.B. Horsman & Son Retail Hardware Merchants, appeared in Vancouver at 819 Granville Street.
“The hardware business prospered. After Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp, a whole range of electrical materials swept North America. In 1923 George Dennis decided, with good insight, to open a small electrical supply division. Within two years and business being so successful, he decided to drop the balance of the hardware business and become an electrical wholesaler. In 1928 the company constructed its first company-owned 8,400 square foot warehouse at 562 Burrard Street, which in those days was a residential area.”
In 2018, E.B. Horsman, now run by fifth-generation Tim Horsman, purchased Saskatoon-based Intec Controls, marking the company’s return to Saskatchewan.
