300 Taylor Street, Dayton Ohio

[Unimatic1140]

At the Vacuum convention this year I saw the old Hoover and current Kirby manufacturing plants and this got me thinking about the old Frigidaire plant. Check out this birds-eye view of the old GM Frigidaire factory. One can only imagine what went on inside here and what each section of the plant was used for. I know they made washers, dryers and dishwashers at this plant in the 1940's thru the 1970's. I assume they also made the ranges and stoves here too. The plant was closed in 1980 when they sold off Frigidaire ***grrrr*** and turned into a GM Auto Parts plant for a bit but now it sits long empty. There was a fire at the plant this summer and its slated for demolition.

It would be interesting to see some of the other washer plants of yesterday if they are still standing. If any of you know of other washer plants please post the address so we can fly over them in maps.live.com.

While this is a boarder line Imperial Forum topic, I posted it here because its important enough that it should go into our permanent archives since these factories wont be around for ever.

 

[tuthill]

Wouldn't it be amazing if, in some random room deep inside the factory, there was a stash of NOS GM Frigidaire parts?

Would be absolutely fascinating to see tour this place in its hay-day.

 

[kenmoreguy64]

FANTASTIC idea Robert!

I've been fascinated with old appliance and automotive plants. Here in Charlotte, the economy over the last 25 years has been so robust that old factories and warehouses got mowed down before they can be declared historic landmarks, to make way for new construction. In Ohio and Michigan, where so many appliances were born, the case is not the same, and buildings may linger for years.

I have tried to research what happened to Whirlpool's original washer plant, which was in St. Joseph Michigan. My father sold hydrochloric acid to that plant for Allied Chemical to etch steel parts before they got porcelain coated. He talks about seeing the plant and others in operation, which would have been fascinating to me, but I never knew this when we lived in Michigan as a kid.

St. Joe, which was represented on Whirlpool and Kenmore serial numbers as a 'J', was closed in the 80s, I think upon the end of belt-drive production. I believe that is where Whirlpool got started. I don't know if the building(s) still exist or not.

Their other washer plant, which has made more machines than St. Joe by far, is Clyde Ohio, serial letter 'C'. That plant is still up and running and makes Direct Drives, along with a corner assembly area for Fisher and Paykel. A very great many of the belt drive Kenmores and Whirlpools that many of us have enjoyed came from Clyde.

Last I heard Clyde was not being used to make any front loaders, but I could be wrong about that. If it isn't, I would think that the plant will either see a mass conversion come the end of top loader manufacturing, OR it will be closed. There is a lot of online information available about the Clyde plant, and it has won efficiency awards for assembly line design. I have also heard that Clyde has made more washers than any single facility in the world, and their daily output capacity is staggering.

I will try to get both St. Joe's and Clyde's addresses. Whirlpool's dryers came out of the Findlay and Marion Ohio plants, 'F' and 'M' in serial codes.

G

 

[Unimatic1140]

I also found the factory in the new and super cool Google Street View. Go to maps.google.com and enter the address (300 TAYLOR ST, DAYTON, OH) and select street view. You can drive right by the whole factory, be sure to bring some Kleenex LOL.

 

[tuthill]

Gordon

That brings up a very interesting point concerning location of production and serial numbers.... Robert do you know how to interpert Frigidaire serial numbers (well i'm sure you do) but match them up to a specific factory??

 

[joelippard]

Man, I'd love to rummage around in that old building and see what could be found!

 

[laundromat]

Soggy Eyeballs

Mr Charles Ferris who was the vice president of FRIGIDAIRE SALES CORPORATION in the mid Atlantic region in Philadelphia,PA.gave me a pass to tour this plant back in 1974.I was in Mansfield Oh.on a dairy farm and we drove there to take the tour on a Monday.I'll never forget it.there was a sort of museum there in an area that was top secret and allowed only people who had a pass to go to this vault.there they had all different models of prototypes,current,past and future models.There were videos to watch regarding all the features,ideas of use and parts.the assembly line was mostly automated but there were many employees there who looked like they really cared about their products.The newer poppy red set was on display with a true 70's set up and the dishwasher had a pop art flower on its front panel.We had lunch prepped by a chef using the "new" Touch n Cook range.Lots of fun and it's real hard to look at these ghostly buildings after being there and doing that decades ago.WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

 

[bajaespuma]

Thanks.

This was a great post. I know I get so focused on the machines I forget that they represented a company of hard-working, imaginative people. People, like many of us, that drove to a site everyday to produce something that would make customer's lives better and products that would reflect the ingenuity and industry of the land they lived in.

It's sickening to remember that these people were also betrayed by short-sided executive officers who, just like today, left them jobless while the fat cats floated away with their golden parachutes and fortunes intact.

 

[paulg]

Bittersweet

I totally respect and admire all those people that brought us those fantastic appliances some of which still operate to this day. However, I am dismayed by all the lost jobs over time. We need those jobs back! You know those great American workers took pride in their fine product. That's a LOT of factory to sit empty - not a good thing.

 

[jaytag]

Old Plants Maytag Magic Chef Norge

As far as I know in Herrin Il downtown still stands the Norge Washer Plant which became Magic Chef and Maytag. I dont remember the street it was on but it took up a few blocks downtown.

 

[jaytag]

Herrin Plant

The Address is 410 E. Lyerla Drive Herrin IL Just looked it up.

 

[jetcone]

Unfortunately

there is no street view available for 3300 West Sample St., South Bend Ind.! Home of Bendix Appliances. But I found out today that it is now home to South Bend Chocolate Co. with a 4 1/2 Star rating! So the building is being used! YAY!

I can't seem to grab the picture from GoogleEarth.

 

[swestoyz]

We've all seen Maytag Plant 1 before, and thankfully it will stay standing for quite sometime.

I can't say that for the R&D building. Went through Newton a few weeks ago and they had it prepared for Demo. I almost cried.

RIP Maytag Research & Development.

 

[tuthill]

Maytag

Where the real brains of the washers biz were.

 

[goatfarmer]

bendix

There are a couple of businesses in the old Bendix Home Laundry factory. Besides S B Chocolate, there is a wire harness manufacturer, and a painting contractor, I believe. I can get a picture later today.

The above picture is the old Bendix automotive factory, now home of Bosch Brakes. A lot of the old factory is still in use, either by Bosch, or Honeywell, for aircraft landing systems. They've changed the layout in front of the Bendix building lately, you can't drive in front like you used to. Also, it doesn't say "Bendix" on the front anymore.

 

[goatfarmer]

Bendix Home Appliance today

This is the South bend Chocolate company, at 10:00 this morning. Also the home to Slutsky/Peltz mechanical contractors, and TherAPedic Mattresses.

The old place has held up pretty good. I remember it saying Bendix on the front, plus they had the obligatory smokestack, that said Bendix, now long gone.

kennyGF

 

[programcomputer]

Apex Electrical Manufacturing Company 1070, E. 152nd St, Cle

This is the site of the old Apex Electrical Manufacturing plant in Cleveland Ohio. You can tell the buildings, and the RR ROW tracks surrounding it.

All the buildings ( and some that are now gone) in the triangle are definitly part of the complex. My guess is that most of the old building's in this complex once all made up Apex...

This is of course where the "Bouncing Basket" was produced, as well as several of my vacuum cleaners..

I was planning to do something like this over on the vacuum site. Good thought.....

Chad

Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[programcomputer]

Now Onto Hotpoint, 5600 W. Taylor St, Chicago Ill

Ok,

This is what the server shows for this facility. There are places for you to hop into the bubble and see a few parts of the plant.

It appears to me tho, that many if not all of the original structures are down.

That's possible considering how long Hotpoints been gone from there....

What do you all think?

Chad

 

[jetcone]

Kenny

Thank you for getting the front view today of the Bendix plant!

I have a photo from the 30's with the Bendix lettering but this thread is current and I am glad that the building is filled with something that works!

cheers

jon