In 1831, James Worts immigrated to Canada from England at which time he established a grist mill. One year later, his brother-in-law, William Gooderham, a successful merchant and miller in England, immigrated to Canada with 2 families, their servants and 11 orphans - in all 54 people. Shortly after his arrival, he decided to invest $3.000 into Worts milling business and thus the Gooderham and Worts partnership was born. Two years later Worts' wife died during childbirth. So distraught was James Worts, that on that day, he took his own life by throwing himself into the company well. Despite this, Gooderham continued building the business later partnering with James Worts' eldest son. In 1837, spurred on by the increase in the harvest of grain from Upper Canada's farms, he decided to add a distillery and that same year produced his first whiskey.

By the 1850s, the Gooderham and Worts distillery was thriving and it's numerous facilities included flour mills, a wharf, the distillery, storehouses, an ice house, a cooper shop and a dairy.

In 1859 the construction of the new Gooderham and Worts Distillery on Mill Street east of Parliament was heralded as the most important contribution to Toronto's manufacturing interests. The imposing main building which accommodated the steam mills and distillery stood 5 stories high-topped with a 100 ft. chimney. The costs for the building and it's contents was believed to be nearly $200,000, according to newspaper reports of the day.

In 1869, a huge fire destroyed the wooded interior of the main building but left the grey limestone exterior intact, costing the company $100,000. Happily the setback did not hamper the distillery's financial growth. In 1871, the Gooderham and Worts Distillery's annual whiskey and spirits production totaled a whopping 2.1 million gallons - close to half of the total spirits production in all of Ontario. What's more, production rose in ten short years and its booming million gallon export business was shipping to major clients in Montreal, Quebec, Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, New York as well as Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and other ports in South America.

1881 was a turning point for the distillery. Following the deaths of William Gooderham and James Worts Jr. within a year of each other, George Gooderham inherited the distillery and became it's sole proprietor. But during the next two decades the distillery's fortunes would be severely affected by World War One, and Canada's short lived prohibition era that brought production of alcohol beverages to a standstill. In order to support the war effort during World War One, the distillery converted its operations to manufacturing acetone.

In 1923, Harry C. Hatch purchased the declining business. Three years later he purchased Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd. and in 1927, the companies merged under the parent company of Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd. All efforts were focused on developing the successful Canadian Club brand. The bulk of operations shifted to the Walkerville plant in Windsor, Ontario.

In 1957 Gooderham & Worts stopped producing rye whiskey. It concentrated instead on the distilling of rum products. In 1986, the conglomerate Allied-Lyons, bought Hiram Walker - Gooderham & Worts Ltd.

In 1990, after 153 years of continuous production, the Gooderham & Worts Distillery - once the largest distillery in the British empire - ceased operations. During the 90s, The Distillery became the number one film location in Canada, and the second largest film location outside of Hollywood.

In December 2001 Cityscape Holdings Inc. purchased The Distillery, later partners with Dundee Realty Corporation. In May 2003, The Distillery was officially opened, thereby implementing an ambitious plan by the owners to create a pedestrian - only village entirely dedicated to arts, culture and entertainment.