The Union Carbide Company was founded in Niagara Falls in 1898. At the time of its inception, Union Carbide was not only one of Niagara Falls’ first industrial firms, but it was also the nation’s largest producer of carbide products. Union Carbide occupied three major facilities in Western New York and employed roughly 5,000 people. […]
In recent years, former employees of Spaulding Fibre have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Laborers who were employed at the Wheeler Street plant in Tonawanda, New York, were at high risk for exposure to asbestos-containing materials. Spaulding Fibre’s origins date back to 1873, when brothers Jonas and Waldo Spaulding formed […]
In recent years, utility workers involved in the operation and maintenance of Niagara Mohawk Corporation powerhouses, now National Grid, have developed and died of mesothelioma, lung cancer and other asbestos-related diseases. Laborers who worked in the utility industry were at high risk for exposure to asbestos-containing products. Asbestos insulation lined steam pipes, boilers, pumps, turbine generators and […]
The Dunkirk and Huntley Stations were once considered the largest steam generator plants in New York State. The Dunkirk station sits on the shore of Lake Erie, 55 miles southwest of Buffalo, in Dunkirk, New York. The Niagara Mohawk Corporation once owned this 600-megawatt plant consisting of four coal-fired units, including two 100-megawatt units that […]
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 […]
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 […]
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) is one of the nation’s largest chemical companies, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. The US chemical industry’s biggest merger closed on August 31, 2017, between DuPont and Dow Chemical Company in an all-stock transaction, making the combined company, DowDuPont, have an estimated value of $130 Billion. It was […]
In December 1920, five chemical companies, including Barret Chemical Company, General Chemical Company, National Aniline and Chemical Company, Semet-Solvay Company, and Solvay Process Company merged to form the Allied Chemical & Dye Corporation. At the time, German chemical companies controlled the majority of the world’s chemical industry. Because of the economic devastation brought on by […]