American Optical Operating Plant – Buffalo NY In 1935, The American Optical Company purchased Spencer Lens Company, located on Eggert Rd. in Buffalo, NY. By 1938, the plant began manufacturing ophthalmic instruments. In 1945, the Spencer Lens Company changed its name to American Optical Scientific Instrument Division and in 1950, their plant was expanded to […]
B.F. Goodrich Asbestos Exposure & Mesothelioma Risks In 1940, the B. F. Goodrich Company constructed a chemical factory on 53rd Street in Niagara Falls, New York, in order to produce its proprietary Geon polyvinyl chloride resin. The Niagara Falls plant employed around fifty people, and closed in 1971. Asbestos was a common industrial insulator for decades […]
Protect Your Family’s Rights After Asbestos Exposure at Durez Plastics Durez Plastics Corporation in North Tonawanda, New York, will always be remembered by the community surrounding it for its role in exposing workers, and their families alike, to asbestos dust. Despite the tragedy surrounding the plant and many deaths among its workers caused by asbestos […]
Curtiss-Wright Corporation was formed in 1929 when Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation merged with Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Curtiss-Wright Corporation had two Western New York factories located in Tonawanda and Cheektowaga, New York. The company was known for manufacturing airplanes, and played a significant role in the United States war effort during World War II. Many […]
AlliedSignal, Inc. was founded in 1985 when Allied Corp. and The Signal Companies Inc. merged. The origins of AlliedSignal date back to 1920, when Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation was formed. AlliedSignal began as a chemical company in Hopewell, Virginia and produced ammonia. In 1999 Allied Signal acquired Honeywell and it now goes by the […]
GREAT LAKES PLASTIC COMPANY was founded in 1946, and was located in Buffalo, New York. Great Lakes was a Manufacturing plant that made different types of plastic molded products for various industries. During the 1950’s, 1960’s, and 1970’s, some of the molding compounds that Great Lakes used to make their plastic molded products contained asbestos. […]
St. Mary’s School for the Deaf was established in Buffalo in 1853, as the first academic school for the deaf in the U.S. In 1898 St. Mary’s was relocated from Edward Street to its current location on Main Street. St. Mary’s School for the Deaf is dedicated to providing an education that will prepare deaf […]
Wickwire Spencer Steel was located on River Road along the shore of the Niagara River in Tonawanda, New York. The steel plant opened in 1901 as Wickwire Steel Company. The million-square-foot steel plant had several buildings that housed blast furnaces, open hearth furnaces, blooming mill, billet mill and rod mills. In 1920, Wickwire Steel Company […]
Ferree Plastics was established in 1960 in Lockport, New York. The Ferree family purchased Sterling Molders Inc. and its plant on Van Burren Street after a massive fire nearly destroyed the building. Ferree Plastics acquired former Sterling Molders Inc. clients and continued to manufacture molded plastic parts for automobiles, electronics, small household appliances and personal […]
The Louis DeMarkus Corporation was founded in Buffalo, New York, in 1953 by Arnold Jacobowitz. Mr. Jacobowitz established his company after he purchased the DeMarkus Form (a carbon dioxide generation unit) from Hungarian physicist Louis DeMarkus. Mr. Jacobowitz opened the first DeMarkus Corporation manufacturing facility at 3080 Main Street in order to design and manufacture […]
Joy Manufacturing Company was established in 1955 in Western New York, and at that time, employed four engineers. Shortly after it was established, Joy Manufacturing opened a Research and Development facility at 3101 Broadway Avenue in Cheektowaga, New York, for the purpose of designing and developing gas turbines, steam turbines, axial flow compressors and other […]
On April 20, 1916, Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation was created out of the reorganization of the International Steam Pump Company. The International Steam Pump Company previously merged with five steam pump companies, including the Henry R. Worthington Company, the Blake & Knowles Steam Pump Works, the Deane Steam Pump Works and the Laidlaw Dunn […]
The Carborundum Company was incorporated in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, in 1891 by Dr. Edward G. Acheson. The rapidly growing industry of hydroelectric power drew Acheson and his company to Niagara Falls, New York, in 1895. At this time, Carborundum employed 35 individuals and that number grew to about 6,000 by 1944. Carborundum has seen its days […]
In 1848, the Pratt & Letchworth Company was established by Samuel F. Pratt, Pascal P. Pratt and William P. Letchworth. The company initially manufactured cast iron hardware for saddles and carriages. Over the next few decades, Pratt & Letchworth diversified its product line to include cast iron hand tools, toys and railroad equipment. By the […]
In 1922, Lance Nicholson and Thomas Hall founded the Nicholson & Hall Boiler & Welding Corporation in what is now called the Cobblestone District of Buffalo, New York. With easy access to the Buffalo harbor, Nicholson & Hall originally serviced boilers onboard Great Lakes steamships. With the loss of shipping traffic into Buffalo Harbor due […]
In 1946, O-Cel-O was founded on Leslie Street in Buffalo, New York, by former DuPont employees Jack Bitzer, Chester Hardt and Gerard Murray. The company manufactured artificial cellulose sponges for household use and was formed in order to take advantage of a shortage of natural sponges due to World War II and a sponge blight […]
Constructed in 1971, the Thaddeus J. Dulski Federal Office Building (The Dulski Building) was once the epicenter of the federal government’s presence in Western New York. Up until 2006, tenants of the Dulski Building included the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Department of Commerce, The U.S. […]
Located in Cheektowaga, New York, the Thruway Plaza opened in 1952, and it was one of the earliest post-war shopping centers in the Buffalo region. The shopping center was originally built for $7 million dollars and consisted of 300,000 square feet. The Thruway Plaza was initially built as an open-air, strip style complex and included […]
Linde Air Products was founded in 1907, as the American subsidiary of German industrial gas manufacturer Linde AG. The original Linde plant was located on Chandler Street in Buffalo, New York. It was the first plant in the United States to manufacture liquid oxygen, and it also manufactured other industrial gases, such as acetylene, nitrogen […]
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Founded in 1846, the State University of New York at Buffalo is the largest and most comprehensive campus in the SUNY system which is comprised of 64 campuses. The University at Buffalo consists of three campuses (North, South and Downtown Bioinformatics Campus). Opened in the early 1970s the University’s North Campus currently has more than […]
In 1947, the Western Electric Company established a plant on Kenmore Avenue in Tonawanda, New York. Curtiss-Wright, a manufacturer of aircraft, previously occupied this plant. Western Electric manufactured all switchboards, telephones and other equipment used within the AT&T system. Western Electric was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T), which operated […]
In 1947, Westinghouse Electric Corporation opened its Motor and Industrial Controls division in Cheektowaga, New York. The plant was located on Genesee Street, adjacent to the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport. The plant was originally constructed and occupied by The Curtiss-Wright Company, a manufacturer of aircraft. Westinghouse Electric Corporation manufactured various types of industrial motors, switches and […]
Children’s Hospital, now Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, was conceptualized in the late 1880s when Dr. Mahlon Bainbridge Folwell began to vocalize his opinion that mingling ill children with adults was counterproductive to a child’s healthcare and recuperation. Dr. Folwell believed that hospitalized kids would recuperate faster and more completely if they were treated […]
The Standard Buffalo Foundry a.k.a. Standard Foundry Company was founded by William A. Griffin and Edmund B. McKenna in the early 1900s. The foundry was located at 743 Hertel Avenue in Buffalo, New York, and it employed approximately 500 workers. The foundry manufactured iron castings for the automotive industry. The Standard Buffalo Foundry closed in […]
With 1,100 guest rooms, three restaurants, a ballroom and numerous meeting rooms, the Hotel Statler was once the largest hotel in Buffalo, New York. Constructed in 1923, by Ellsworth Statler, it featured more guest rooms than any other hotel in Buffalo. With eighteen stories, it was the second-tallest building in the city. Hilton Hotels purchased […]
The Stauffer Chemical Company was located on Old Lewiston Road in Lewiston, New York. The plant was originally constructed in 1916 as the Niagara Smelting Company and acquired by Stauffer Chemical in 1942. Stauffer Chemical initially manufactured aluminum, but shortly the purchase of the Old Lewiston Road facility, the company began to manufacture industrial chemicals, […]
Located at 805 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, New York, Temple Beth Zion’s current sanctuary was constructed in 1967, replacing its earlier structure at 599 Delaware Avenue that burned to the ground. Temple Beth Zion is one of the oldest and largest Reform congregations in the United States. The temple was designed by renowned architect Max […]
The Roswell Park Cancer Institute was established in 1898 by Doctor Roswell Park under the patronage of the New York State Department of Health. Originally called the New York State Pathological Laboratory, it was the world’s first center for the study and treatment of cancer. In 1904, the institute administered the world’s first chemotherapy program, […]
The Sealtest brand name was established by National Dairies in 1934, when it changed the name of its ice cream from Tasty to Sealtest. As the popularity of ice cream grew in the United States, Sealtest sold over 267,000 gallons during the first year its ice cream was mass produced. Sealtest Ice Cream was originally […]
In 1917, Allied Chemical opened its coke oven plant on River Road in Tonawanda, New York, as part of the Semet-Solvay Company. When Allied sold its Tonawanda plant in 1978, it became known as the Tonawanda Coke Corporation. The original Semet-Solvay battery was built in 1917 and contained sixty coke ovens. It was taken out […]
Sid Harvey Industries, Inc., was founded in Hempstead, New York in 1931, and it is a manufacturer and distributor of heating, air-conditioning, ventilation and refrigeration supplies. Originally, the company was a wholesale supplier of parts and equipment for the oil heating industry. Sid Harvey grew rather quickly, and by World War II, its mail order […]
The Simonds Saw and Steel facility in Lockport, New York, off Himman Road and Simonds Street, was established in 1911 to replace a previous facility in Chicago, Illinois. This move was undertaken in order to utilize hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls, and to allow for greater control over the quality of the steel used in […]
In the early 1940s, the United States government began a series of experiments, later known as the Manhattan Project, with the goal of manufacturing atomic weapons and power plants. After the end of World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission was created to establish civilian control over atomic energy development and weapons production. Several locations […]
In 1848, the Sisters of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious order, established the first hospital in Buffalo, New York. Sisters of Charity Hospital was originally located on St. Louis Place, and in 1876, it moved to the corner of Main Street and Delavan Avenue. In 1948, Sisters Hospital relocated to its current location at the […]
The Sorrento Cheese Company was founded in 1947 by Louis Russo in Blasdell, New York. Russo was a native of Sorrento, Italy, and he established Sorrento Cheese in order to market traditional Italian cheeses to the rapidly growing Italian-American population. In 1960, the company moved to its present location on South Park Avenue in Buffalo. […]
The South Buffalo Railway Company was established in 1899, as a short-line railroad owned by the Lackawanna Steel Company, the predecessor to Bethlehem Steel. The railway also served other customers in Lackawanna, including Donner-Hanna Coke, Ford and Republic Steel. The South Buffalo Railway spanned over fifty miles of track in Western New York. Bethlehem Steel owned the South Buffalo Railway […]
Established in 1915, South Park High School is a public school in the Buffalo City School District. Located on Southside Parkway in Buffalo, New York, the school serves several neighborhoods in South Buffalo. South Park High School is a four-story, 223,000 square foot building that enrolls around 800 students per year. It offers a full […]
Plasterers Local 9 represents union plasterers in Western New York. In 1864, Local 9 became a charter member of the Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA). Local 9 in North Tonawanda is also a member of the Buffalo Buildings and Construction Trades Council. Up until the late 1970s, Local 9 Plasterers applied dozens […]
The Pohlman Foundry was located at 205 Baitz Avenue in Buffalo, New York, and it manufactured gray iron castings for pumps and compressors. The Foundry was in operation for 113 years, and its customers included manufacturers of automotive and industrial parts. In 1998, the Pohlman Foundry was acquired by Lionheart Industries Inc. In 2002, the […]
Buffalo and Lackawanna New York, have a rich steelmaking history. Republic Steel was built on the banks of the Buffalo River, giving it great access to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes and the rest of the United States. Ease in transportation and relatively inexpensive hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls made our community ideally suited […]
Prior to 1929 there were 59 separate power companies serving Northern New York; each company provided power to its local area. In 1929, all 59 companies joined to together to form Niagara Hudson Power Corp. Following internal reorganization in 1950, it became Niagara Mohawk Power Co. In March of 1999, it reorganized again, forming the holding company Niagara Mohawk Holdings, […]
The Sisters of Mercy, an order of Catholic nuns, founded Mercy Hospital in 1904. Located on Abbott Street in South Buffalo, it is one of Western New York’s largest and busiest hospitals. As demand for Mercy Hospital’s services have increased throughout the years, the hospital has completed numerous expansions and renovations. Prior to federal regulations […]
Millard Fillmore Hospital was founded in 1872, as the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital. Originally located on Washington Street in Buffalo, New York, the hospital moved to a house on Cottage Street in 1874 in order to expand the number of patients it could treat. In 1911, a modern facility was constructed for the hospital on Gates […]
When in operation, The Elk Street Mobil Oil refinery in Buffalo, New York, was one of only seven Mobil Oil refineries in the nation. The facility, which was taken out of operation in 1981, sprawled over five city blocks and had the capability to refine 43,000 barrels of oil per day. Throughout its operation, the […]
In 1926, the first mining and manufacturing plant of National Gypsum was established in Clarence, New York. The discovery of an almost pure gypsum deposit in Clarence Center prompted National Gypsum to begin gypsum mining and manufacturing operations for its wallboard and plaster products. A Buffalo, New York, inventor by the name of Joseph F. […]
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Niagara University was founded as the College and Seminary of Our Lady of Angels in 1856 by the Vincentian Community, a Roman Catholic religious order. In 1883, the university changed its name to Niagara University as more secular areas of study were offered. Located on Lewiston Road in Niagara Falls, New York, Niagara University’s campus […]
Norton Laboratories, Inc., also known as Norton Labs, was founded in 1916 by Charles Norton and William R. Seigle on Mill Street in Lockport, NY. The Lockport, New York, plant initially consisted of seven buildings, including a factory, boiler room, factory office, front office, machine shop and two warehouses. Norton Labs originally manufactured metallic magnesium during […]
Established by William Oldman in 1863, Oldman Boiler Works was a fixture on Buffalo’s waterfront for more than a century. Oldman manufactured and repaired boilers and other equipment installed on numerous Great Lakes freighters that docked at the Buffalo Harbor. Oldman Boiler Works also manufactured various pieces of industrial equipment for companies, such as Bethlehem Steel, Mobil […]
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Local 210 of the Laborers’ International Union of North America represents union laborers in Erie County. Chartered in 1913, the laborers’ union has jurisdiction over various types of construction, including concrete pouring; road construction; asbestos and hazardous material abatement; and job site cleanup. Local 210 laborers participated in nearly every major construction project and worked […]
The former Leisure Land Bowling Alley on Camp Road in Hamburg, New York, opened in the late 1950s. With forty-eight bowling lanes, Leisure Land was one of the largest bowling alleys in Western New York. It contained more lanes than Orchard Park, Brierwood, Braymiller’s, Hamburg Legion and Victoria combined. In 2006, Leisure Land closed its […]
The Liberty Building, constructed in 1925, served as the headquarters for Liberty National Bank. Located on Main Street, it is the fifth tallest building in Buffalo, New York, featuring two replica Statues of Liberty on its roof. The Liberty Building is twenty-three stories tall, and it houses commercial offices. During the early 1960s, an addition […]
Lockport Memorial Hospital was originally established as Lockport City Hospital in Lockport, New York, on July 1, 1908. The Ladies Hospital Aid Association raised $5,000 for the Hospital’s construction; the City of Lockport matched this amount. When the Hospital was first opened, it included 18 patient beds. As the community of Lockport grew, demands for […]
One M&T Plaza is a twenty-one story high rise building located on Main and Eagle Streets in downtown, Buffalo, New York. Completed in 1967, the M & T building was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the same architect who designed the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City. The building is home to M […]
Mader Plastering started as a partnership between Edward Mader and Lawrence Reger in 1953. The company was founded as a small plastering company originally located in West Seneca, New York. Prior to the late 1970s, laborers who were employed by Mader installed and applied asbestos-containing building materials, including, fireproof insulation, joint compound (mud), ceiling tiles […]
Constructed in 1969, the Main Place complex is comprised of the Main Place Tower and Main Place Mall. Standing at twenty-six stories, the tower is the fourth-tallest building in Buffalo and houses commercial offices. Main Place Mall is the only shopping mall in downtown Buffalo, and in recent years, it has lost a great deal […]
The former Marine Midland Center (now One Seneca Tower), located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was a 40-story, 841,000 square foot office tower that was once home to Marine Midland Bank. Completed in 1973, the Marine Midland Center was, at the time, the largest building in New York State outside of New York City. In recent […]
In 1955, Maryvale High School was established as a public high school serving the Maryvale Union Free School District. Located on Maryvale Drive, the high school serves the Maryvale neighborhood in Cheektowaga, New York. Maryvale High School offers a full Regents curriculum, enrolling over 800 students every year. Up until the late 1970s, asbestos-containing materials […]
Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC, represents numerous former and retired laborers who were employed at the Hooker Electrochemical Company (Hooker Chemical or Hooker Niagara) located in Niagara Falls, NY. In recent years, former employees of Hooker Chemical have developed and died of mesothelioma, various cancers, and other chemical and asbestos-related diseases. Hooker Chemical’s Niagara Falls, […]
The Hooker Chemical Company is a name that is unfortunately synonymous with one of America’s largest and most tragic chemical disasters, Love Canal. It is estimated that between 1942 and 1975 Hooker Chemical disposed of 199,900 tons of chemical waste at four dump sites in Niagara Falls, NY. One of the most notorious sites, Love […]
The George E. Hudson Corporation was established in 1927 as a plastering and insulation contractor. In 1938, the company’s name changed to Hudson Plastering Corporation, and its main offices were located at 50 Stradtman Street in Cheektowaga, New York, until the company dissolved in 1982. Prior to federal regulations placed on asbestos in the late […]
Hutchinson Technical High School (Hutch Tech) was established in 1904 as Mechanic Arts High School in Buffalo, New York. In 1905, it was renamed Buffalo Technical High School. The school was originally located on Elm Street, but it moved to a new building on Eagle Street in 1914 because of overcrowding. In 1954, the school […]
Boilermakers Union Local #7, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers is a labor union that represents boilermakers throughout Western and Central New York. Headquartered in Orchard Park, New York, Local 7 became one of the first boilermakers’ unions in the United States when it received its charter in 1881 from the International Brotherhood of […]
Local 6 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers represents union ironworkers in a large portion of Western New York. Headquartered in West Seneca, New York, Local 6 has jurisdiction over iron work in Erie and Cattaraugus Counties, as well as parts of Chautauqua, Allegany, Wyoming and Steuben Counties. Chartered in […]
Keene Insulation Contracting Division was located at 803 Walden Avenue in Buffalo, New York. Keene Insulation Contracting Division, also known as the Gale Corporation, was a contracting branch of the Keene Corporation, a manufacturer of asbestos-containing insulation materials. Up until the late 1970s, laborers who were employed by Keene applied and removed a variety of […]
Kenmore Mercy Hospital was established in 1951 by the Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic religious order. Located on Elmwood Avenue in Kenmore, New York, the hospital has 184 inpatient beds, and it offers emergency care, orthopedics and cardiology services. Kenmore Mercy Hospital is also one of the six designated stroke centers for Erie and […]
Kensington High School was established in 1937 as a project of the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. Located on Suffolk Street in Buffalo, New York, the school enrolled around 800 students per year. In 2004, the Buffalo City School District closed Kensington High School, citing poor academic performance and disciplinary problems. Currently, the former […]
Located on Symphony Circle in Buffalo, New York, Kleinhans Music Hall was constructed in 1940 through an endowment from the estate of Edward and Mary Kleinhans and a grant from the United States Public Works Administration. It was designed by renowned architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen, and since 1989, it has been listed on the […]
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In 1903, the Washburn-Crosby Milling Company established a flour mill adjacent to the Frontier Grain Elevator on South Michigan Avenue in Buffalo, New York. In 1928, Washburn-Crosby became General Mills, after a merger with twenty-six other milling companies. The mill expanded steadily throughout the early Twentieth Century, and by 1941, it was the most productive […]
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In 1916, the Globe Woven Belting Company was established in Buffalo, New York, by Michael Bleecher as a manufacturer of high quality conveyor belt products. Initially, the company’s plant consisted of one building located at 1400 Clinton Street. Over the next few decades and as its operations grew, the facility expanded and added more wings […]
General Motor’s Central Foundry Division, now a part of GM Powertrain, was founded in 1917, in Saginaw, Michigan, by sixteen men as the Saginaw Malleable Iron Company. Foundries melt iron ore, steel and other ingredients in order to create various parts used to make cars, specifically car engines. Two years after it was established, the […]
The Hanna Furnace facility in Buffalo, New York, processed iron ore into pig iron, a primary ingredient in the steel making process. This site was constructed in 1903 by the Buffalo Union Steel Company, at the southern border of Buffalo on swampy land bordering Lake Erie. Soon after the facility began operations, the Union Ship […]
Local 4 of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers is a labor union that represents insulators in Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Buffalo, New York, Local 4 was one of the original local unions that comprised the international union chartered by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) […]
In 1915, E. J. Eddy, Inc., was established by Ernest J. Eddy in Buffalo, New York, in order to distribute and install asbestos-containing insulating materials. In 1958, the Mundet Cork Company acquired E. J. Eddy, Inc. In 1960, E. J. Eddy was absorbed into its parent company and became the Buffalo branch of Mundet Cork’s […]
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 41 represents union electricians in Erie County. In 1891, Local 41 was originally founded as part of the National Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Local 41 is based in Orchard Park, New York, and is a member of the Buffalo Building and Construction Trades Council. Members of Local 41 […]
Emerson Vocational School was located at 1405 Sycamore Avenue in Buffalo, New York. The land for the school was acquired in 1926, and the school was originally established as the Peckham Vocational School until it changed its name to Emerson in 1937. For sixty-two years and before closing its doors in 1999, Emerson educated and […]
The hospital that became known as Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) was founded in 1905 as Municipal Hospital on East Ferry Street in Buffalo, New York. In 1918, the hospital moved to its present location on Grider Street, and it was renamed Buffalo City Hospital. The hospital was renamed again in 1939, when it became […]
The Erie County Savings Bank at Sheldon Square was once considered the heart of the commercial district in Downtown Buffalo. The Bank was constructed between 1890 and 1893. Designed by renowned architect George B. Post, who was also responsible for the design of the Statler Hotel, the Bank was constructed from pink granite brought in […]
From 1957 until 2004, The Federal Reserve Building located on Delaware Avenue in downtown, Buffalo was home to the Buffalo branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Since 2006, this building has served as the corporate headquarters for the New Era Cap Company. During the construction of the Federal Reserve Building in the […]
The Ford Stamping Plant is located along the shores of Lake Erie at 3663 S. Lake Shore Road in Hamburg, New York. The plant opened its doors in 1950 and has continuously manufactured sheet metal stampings including, quarter panels, roofs, doors, hoods, floor pans and body sides. The labor force at this plant consists of […]
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DeGraff Memorial Hospital was founded in 1914 by LeGrand S. DeGraff. Located on Tremont Street in North Tonawanda, New York, it provides inpatient and outpatient medical services to residents of communities throughout Buffalo. Since its establishment, numerous expansions and renovations were completed. The hospital is currently operated by Kalieda Health, and it is a 70-bed […]
Lipsitz, Ponterio & Comerford, LLC, represents former and retired workers from Donner Hanna Coke Corporation once located at Mystic and Abby Streets in Buffalo, New York. This 88 acre facility manufactured metallurgic coke, a necessary element used to make steel. Donner Hanna Coke also manufactured coke by-products, including phenol, xylene, xylenol and orthoxylenol, benzene, toluene, […]
Asbestos-containing materials covered a majority of the equipment used at the Donner Hanna Coke plant. Throughout its 88 acre site, the coke ovens, phenol manufacturing facility, precarbon plant, three office buildings and a powerhouse containing five boilers all contained asbestos refractory or insulation materials. A refractory material is a non-metallic material capable of resisting high […]
Built in 1962, The Donovan Building was a 146,000 square foot building constructed from the former Lehigh Valley Terminal on Main Street in downtown, Buffalo, New York. It once housed eighteen state agencies, as well as offices for elected officials. In 2005, the building was vacated and scheduled for demolition in order to prepare the […]
In 1923, the Dunlop Tire & Rubber Company built its first American plant on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda, New York. The plant consists of ten manufacturing buildings on 130 acres. Dunlop remained an independent company until 1986, when Sumitomo Rubber Industries acquired it. In 1997, Goodyear Tire & Rubber obtained a seventy-five percent controlling interest […]
Durez Plastics in North Tonawanda, New York, was a chemical and plastics factory that once manufactured and produced plastic molding compound containing raw asbestos fibers. Buildings throughout the Durez facility were also heavily insulated with asbestos-containing insulation materials. Former Durez workers have indicated that the yards and alleyways between the manufacturing buildings were covered with […]
D’Youville College was established in 1908 by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic religious order. It was the first college in Western New York to award bachelor’s degrees to women. Up until 1971, D’Youville admitted only women. The college currently enrolls about 3,000 students per year, and it awards bachelor’s degrees in […]
Burgard High School was established in 1910 as the Elm Vocational School, which primarily held printing press classes. Burgard moved to its current location on Kensington Avenue in 1930, when it was renamed in honor of Henry P. Burgard, who donated five acres of land to construct the school. Currently, Burgard High School enrolls about […]
In recent years, former employees of Carbide Graphite Group, Inc., have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other asbestos-related diseases. Laborers who were employed at its Packard Road plant located in Niagara Falls, New York, were routinely exposed to asbestos-containing materials. The Carbide Graphite Group, Inc., manufactured graphite electrode products, needle coke, and calcium […]
Carbide Graphite Group, Inc., was but the latest title given to a company that was first founded in St. Mary’s, Pennsylvania, in 1899, which coincided with an explosive growth period in the American steel industry. Initially, chemist John Speer and financier Andrew Kaul founded the Speer Carbon Company in order to produce carbon brushes for […]
The Carbide Graphite Group, Inc., manufactured graphite electrode products, needle coke and calcium carbide. Graphite electrodes transfer electricity to melt scrap iron and steel in electric arc furnaces for use in steel manufacturing. Laborers who were employed at Carbide Graphite’s Packard Road plant in Niagara Falls, New York, were routinely exposed to coal tar pitch during the […]
In recent years, former employees of Carborundum have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Laborers employed at both the Buffalo Avenue and Walmore Road plants were at high risk for exposure to asbestos-containing materials. Carborundum, located in Niagara Falls, New York, manufactured general purpose grinding wheels that were used to grind […]
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Chevrolet Buffalo, which was in operation from 1923 to 2007, was one of the oldest continuously operated manufacturing facilities in Western New York. Located at 1001 East Delavan Avenue near Bailey Avenue, it opened in 1923 as a Chevrolet assembly plant. Civilian production of the passenger automobile halted during World War II. After the war […]
The Claxton Asbestos Company was formed in 1928 in Buffalo, New York. Claxton was involved in the sale, distribution and installation of asbestos insulation products at commercial and industrial job sites throughout Western New York. On June 28, 1959, Claxton was sold and changed its name to Claxton Asbestos Company, Inc. The new owners continued […]
Asbestos Contaminated Talcum Powder Causes Mesothelioma. Learn more about Asbestos, Talcum Powder and your legal rights here.