- Batawa, Ontario
Batawa is a community in
eastern Ontario ,Canada . This planned city was founded byThomas J. Bata in the 1930s near the city of Trenton and is today part of the city of Quinte West. It is the site of the Bata Shoe Company's old shoe factory, which began operation in 1940.History
Thomas Bata was a believer in the 'commune' concept for manufacturing. The Bata company owned the town, providing accommodations at a reasonable rate to its workers. The company controlled virtually all aspects of the village. Many of the residents were immigrants from Bata's homeland,
Czechoslovakia .Low-cost foreign imports of shoes made Canadian production too costly. The factory closed down, yet the town lives on as a beautiful community on the shores of the Trent River.
Further reading
There are several books about the Bata's including: "Uprooted and Transplanted", [cite book |title= Uprooted and transplanted: a Sudeten odyssey from tragedy to freedom, 1938-1958|last= Skoutajan|first= Hanns F|authorlink= |year= 2000|publisher= Ginger Press|location= Owen Sound, ON|isbn= 9780921773542|oclc= 45265108|pages= ] the story of a family that immigrated to Canada and worked at the Batawa facility.
ee also
*
Bata Shoes
*Bata Shoe Museum
*List of planned cities References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
