The former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW) is a 7,500 acre site located in the towns of Lewiston and Porter, New York. In 1941, the Department of Defense (formerly Department of War) purchased land in Niagara County for the purpose of manufacturing trinitrotoluene (TNT). The LOOW manufactured nearly 42 million pounds of TNT in a […]
The Titanium Alloy Manufacturing Company (TAM) was founded in 1906, by Dr. Auguste Rossi, William Meredith and Andrew Thompson. Located on Hyde Park Boulevard in Niagara Falls, New York, the company originally manufactured powdered ferrocarbon titanate (an additive used in the steelmaking process) and titanium dioxide (a pigment used in the manufacture of white paint). […]
In 1932, George E. Lewis, a former executive of the Carborundum Company, founded the Varcum Chemical Company. The Varcum plant is located on Packard Road in Niagara Falls, New York, and it is a manufacturer of raw phenolic resins used in the production of phenolic plastic. Phenolic plastic is utilized in a large percentage of all […]
Laborers’ Local 91 represents union laborers in Niagara County. In 1935, Local 91 was originally founded as the International Hod Carriers’ Building and Common Laborers’ Union of America. Local 91 in Niagara Falls is affiliated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA). The members of Local 91 are involved in various types of […]
Hooker Chemical’s plant in Niagara Falls, New York, once manufactured chemicals, including caustic soda and bleaches. Hooker Chemical’s facilities were heavily insulated with asbestos-containing insulation materials which acted as thermal insulators. Laborers who worked at Hooker Chemical and outside insulation contractors were hired to apply asbestos-containing insulation to pipes, steam traps, filters and chemical storage […]
Local 9 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers is a labor union that represents ironworkers in Niagara County. Founded in 1902, Local 9 is one of the oldest ironworkers’ unions in the United States. Headquartered in Niagara Falls, the union has jurisdiction over all iron work in Niagara County, as […]
In 1907, The Electro Metallurgical Company a.k.a. Electromet was established at the corner of 47th Street and Royal Avenue in Niagara Falls, New York. Electro Metallurgical produced ferro-metal alloys, tungsten, titanium, calcium carbide and acetylene. The company also provided extensive metallurgical research to other industries involved in the manufacture of carbon electrodes. In 1922, Union […]
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 it closed in 1971. Up until the late 1970s, asbestos was incorporated into dozens of insulation and building […]