Hammermill Bird's Eye View

Bird's Eye View of Hammermill Paper Co. from a linen card.

Just dropping a quick note to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you. I decided to research my Irish ancestors on St. Patrick's Day and discovered that my great-great-great grandfather, Patrick F. Donnelly, was a veteran of the Civil War! Having survived that harrowing experience, he was one of 17 men who were killed in an explosion in a coal mine in Clinton County, Pennsylvania in November of 1888. So, you can see why I have been neglecting my Old Time Erie duties as of late. 

As I ease back into a routine, I thought you might enjoy a bird's eye view of the Hammermill Paper Company on East Lake Road in Erie, PA. The plant was purchased by International Paper and, as was the fate with many industries in the region, no longer exists.

Stay tuned for more historical facts and old photos of Erie, PA following this brief intermission.

Top 40 Erie Industries in 1950

As I was coming home last night on East 12th Street, a couple of things caught my eye. The setting sun looked like a blazing ball of fire in the sky. The three smokestacks were a sad reminder of the old Hammermill Paper Company on East Lake Road. I turned north on Downing Avenue and captured this scene just before the sun disappeared below the horizon 

The stacks also got me thinking about what a great manufacturing town Erie, Pennsylvania was. Coincidentally, I found a list of the principal industries of Erie in a 1950 publication. Thousands of skilled workers were employed in these shops. Just a handful of these businesses remain.* See if you can name them.

Alsco, Inc. made aluminum windows and doors
American Sterilizer Company
Henry Althof & Sons specialized in iron and iron works
American Hollow Boring Co. made forgings
Bliley Electric Company
Bucyrus-Erie made steam shovels
Burke Electric Company made motors
Bury Compressor Company made compressors
Cascade Foundry Company made castings
Continental Rubber Works made rubber goods
Erie Brewing Company made beer
Erie City Iron Works
Erie Concrete and Steel Company fabricated steel
Erie Forge Company made machinery
Erie Foundry Company made machinery
Erie Malleable Iron Works
Erie Meter System made meters for gas station pumps
Erie Plastics Company made radio parts
Erie Resistor Corp. made radio parts
General Electric Co. makes locomotives
Griffin Mfg. Company made hardware
Hammermill Paper Company made quality writing paper
Hays Mfg. Company made brass  products
Jarecki Mfg. Company made valves and fittings
Johnson Metal Products made metal items
Kollman Mfg. Company made sewer and drain cleaners
Lord Mfg. Co. made rubber mountings
Lovell Mfg. Co. made wringer washers and mouse traps
Metric Metal Works made gas meters
National Erie Corporation made machinery
Nosco Plastics manufactured items out of plastic
Nubone Company made items for undergarments
Odin Stove Company made stoves
Pelham Electric Manufacturing
Penn Brass and Copper
Perma-Lite Displays made neon tubing for signs
Protane Corporation made items for gas
Reed Manufacturing Company
Skinner Engine Company
Standard Stoker Inc.
Talon Inc. made zippers
U. S. Printing & Lithograph Company made circus posters
Wayne Brewing Company made beer
Weil-McLain Company made radiators
J. A. Zurn Company

*some companies merged with others or operate today under a different name

Enjoy more facts and photos of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie

GE Built 3,000 Volt Locomotives

Old Time Erie GE publicity still contributed by Jack Sheehan.

The train pictured above packed a lot of power when it was completed on November 3, 1927. This 3,000 volt electric locomotive was made at the General Electric plant in Lawrence Park. This workhorse was made for the Paulista Railway Company in Brazil. There are more than two dozen men pictured with the final product, each one playing a part in its design and assembly. It would have taken a mighty crane to set the parts of this 150 ton behemoth up on blocks, and then to roll it off onto the railroad tracks.

Tom Sheehan is on top of the cab, the fifth man from the right. Tom lived at 1052 Rankine Avenue in Lawrence Park with his family. He rose to the rank of foreman and died in 1947 following an illness. GE made quality products in Erie County, Pennsylvania that were sold to customers all over the world. There was a time when two or three generations from the same family worked at GE. This photo may have been taken in Building 10. GE Transportation Systems is on Eastlake Road between Water Street and Franklin Avenue. Its one of the largest employers in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

Enjoy more facts and photos of Erie History at: Old Time Erie

Skinner Engine Company 12th and Chestnut

The Skinner Engine Company was located at 337 West 12th St. Most of the buildings shown in this A. Hintenach illustration still stand near the corner of West 12th and Chestnut Street in Erie, PA. Security-Peoples Trust Company released a cool booklet in 1946 called "There's Security in 'Erieland." The following description of the company appeared in that publication.

"Skinner Engine Company, founded in 1868 by its first President, LeGrand Skinner, built the first poppet-valve Unaflow Steam Engine in this country. Today, in its 77th year, under the direction of J. LeGrand Skinner, its third President, Skinner Engine Company is the largest exclusive builder of steam engines in the United States. The original Skinner Engine is here illustrated.

American industry grows great over the decades, inspired by the credo...'long after the price has been forgotten, the quality proves the value of the product.' Thus Skinner has sold its famous Universal Unaflow engines for use in land-bound business and industry in the four corners of the world...and for ships that sail the seven seas. Reliable statistics show that 50% of all Unaflow engines built in this country have come from the Skinner Plant."

Enjoy more facts about the City of Erie, Pennsylvania history at: Old Time Erie

General Electric Erie Locomotive Plant Philosophy

General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania held an open house on June 12, 1960 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary. Visitors to the plant at 2901 East Lake Road received a 24-page booklet which told the history of the Erie plant. What follows are excerpts from the document entitled Welcome Visitor.

"We at General Electric's Erie Plant are pleased to have you as our guest. As a consumer, you're probably already familiar with GE television sets, radios, appliances, and light bulbs. But General Electric at Erie also means locomotives and generators, ferrous and non-ferrous castings- products that are basic to transportation, industry and defense all over the world. 

The headquarters of the Company's Motor and Generator Division is at the Erie Plant. The Direct Current Motor and Generator Department, Locomotive and Car Equipment Department, and Erie Relations and Utilities Operation are assigned to the Motor and Generator Division. Two other GE operations at the Erie Plant are the Erie Foundries and Erie Reconditioning Shop...

We hope that we have given you a better idea of what we do at General Electric's Erie Plant- the products we make, and the philosophy we try to live by. In the interest of all of our five 'Partners in Progress,' we try:

To give EMPLOYEES a good job at a fair wage under capable and trained supervision- in return for their attendance, skill, care and effort.

To give CUSTOMERS a good product at a fair price- in return for their business and loyalty.

To give LOCAL SUPPLIERS all the business we can- in return for quality products and skilled services.

To give SHAREOWNERS an equitable return on their money- in return for their investment in the Company.

To give you, our COMMUNITY NEIGHBORS, our full cooperation as a corporate citizen- in return for your continuing efforts to keep the Erie area a good place in which to work and live."

Note: GE made howitzers for the Army during World War II. Read about the 75mm weapons here:  GE Howitzers

Enjoy more historical facts and photos of Erie, Pennsylvania at: Old Time Erie

GE Made Howitzers in Erie During WWII

General Electric made howitzers in Erie during World War II and chances are that someone in your family played a part in the wartime effort. Employment at the Erie Works of General Electric jumped from 5,675 people in 1940 to 9,544 persons during World War II. Between 1946 and 1951, employment averaged 15,031 workers per year.

Back to the howitzers. I remember hearing people talk about this, and I finally found proof in a GE pamphlet published in August of 1941. The text is as follows:

"On machines previously used for making electric motors for street cards and locomotives, skilled machinists at the General Electric Erie Plant are producing the latest 75-millimeter pack howitzers for the United States Army.

The size of the howitzer- it is only 47 inches long- permitted boring operations to be performed on turret lathes already in the plant, and with few changes, other tools on hand were adapted for the work. As production was stepped up it was necessary to add some new machines; special rifling equipment had to be installed. But assembly-line production has been underway for some months, with the men who formerly made motors now making howitzers.

Maximum portability and striking power for its weight and complete interchangeability of parts are features of the pack howitzer. It was originally designed for mule transport, but the new type of howitzer is now towed on pneumatic tires by motorized troops. Some batteries have even been carried by airplane on maneuvers.

This weapon hurls a 15-pound shell nearly three inches in diameter more than five miles. One of its special features is its ability to drop its projectiles accurately behind hills, buildings or other obstructions. It can be quickly disassembled and reassembled with interchangeable parts.

All through production, parts must be made to exact measurements, as the howitzers must be assembled in the field with few or no tools. Parts must be definite fits, and enormous stresses must be withstood in firing, thus providing a continuous job for the Army inspectors. These men see the individual parts as they are finished; they inspect them after they have been given their final polish; they are present at the last tests before the guns are put in packing cases.

At the final tests the individual parts are assembled and reassembled at random to prove their interchangeability, and three rounds of primers in empty shell cases are then fired in each howitzer to check the breech mechanism. The guns are then ready to be shipped out for their mountings, recoil mechanisms and other parts not made in Erie."

This leads to the next question...were the howitzers tested on the shores of Lake Erie?

Note: Click here to read about the philosophy of the Erie Plant here: GE circa 1960

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: Old Time Erie

Parker White Metal on McKinley Ave

Parker White Metal & Machine Company was located on McKinley Avenue near East 23rd Street in Erie, PA. The illustration above shows the factory as it looked around 1915. The company was owned by William A. Parker. "Parker White Metal die castings. Made from a variety of alloys, hard as cast iron or tough as annealed brass. Our dies produce complete, smoothly finished castings, ready for assembly. They insure an exact duplication of any number of parts and do away with expensive machining. Our metals will surprise you."

I think Bargain Barn was located in the old Parker White Metal building in the mid-seventies. The building has since been demolished, but its footprint remains. The Eastside Bayfront Connector runs parallel to the train in the picture above.

Enjoy more historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com

Industries in Erie PA in 1958

At one time, Erie was a manufacturing powerhouse with quality products known around the world, such as Hammermill paper. In its heyday, the Hammermill plant ran 24 hours a day. The logos shown above represent some of the industries and service providers that operated in Erie, PA in the spring of 1958. Security-Peoples Trust Company used this image in a magazine advertisement to promote pride in the community. It would be interesting to see what items each company made and if they are still in business.

It would be great if there was a Museum of Erie Industries with sample items and photos of the businesses, especially the ones on West 12th Street.

Enjoy more interesting historic facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com