Die Cast Site 1-6 1997

Die Cast Site 1-6 1997

The Woodstock Die Cast site was surrounded by Clay, Newell, First and Wheeler Streets. The first factory building was constructed in 1894 for the Tappan & Wheeler Steam Pump Company. Woodstock had offered incentives for this company to relocate from Chicago. In 1898, the Oliver Typewriter Company, also from Chicago, took over the building. Oliver Typewriter Company produced typewriters sold all over the world. As the major employer of the area (1,400 employees), the company had a band, fire department, semi-pro baseball team and major social events such as a summer picnic in the Fox River Grove picnic grounds. The Oliver typewriter allowed the user to see the letters as they were typed, rather than raising the bar to read the copy. It went out of business when the double-shift was invented and it was deemed too costly to retool the factory. It stayed open a few years offering repair services.
1928 Alemite Die Casting & Manufacturing of Chicago produced aluminum cookware, parts for Hamilton Beach, Speed Queen, Whirlpool; electric trains and toys; and many other items. Their fireproof storage room held over 4, 000 different precision molds.
1935 Electric Auto-Lite made automobile parts and accessories, including door handles, grilles and hood ornaments for Ford Motor Company and Packard and others. It had over 2,000 employees in 1949.
1963 Woodstock Die Casting, (the name was bought from its parent company, Eltra Corporation) manufactured automotive, appliance and industrial fittings
1964 A five-year building and renovation project added 100,000 square feet to the complex
1979 Allied Chemical Corporation acquired Eltra.
1980 Allied merged with Signal Corporation and became Allied-Signal Corporation.
1985 Woodstock Manufacturing Corporation purchased the plant and named the company Woodstock Die Cast Corporation. Despite the name, the company was located in Southfield, Michigan.
1988 United Auto Workers Local 922 went on strike. The dispute over pay, pensions and safety issues lasted over two years.
1990 Woodstock Die Cast plant closed on June 29 with a loss of 757 jobs.
Jim Keefe took a series of photos in 1997, just before the buildings were demolished. They show both the buildings on the factory grounds and also the surrounding neighborhood. This ID has 5 photos. 5 more are included in ID 407.
Die Cast Site 5 shows First St. on the left and Clay St across the open expanse of grass after the demolition.

Keefe, Jim

1996