Industry in Bellaire

INDUSTRY IN BELLAIRE
Major Bellaire Industries:
Imperial Glass - Company History Rodefer Glass	Bellaire Enamel Works Coal Mining
Other Bellaire Industries:
BARON MANUFACTURING WORKS In October, 1871, a manufacturing institution was incorporated, in Bellaire, to manufacture an improved railroad lantern, but later expanded to manufacture a full line of pressed tin ware. About 100 hands were employed.
BELLAIRE NAIL WORKS The Bellaire Nail Works was the first important manufacturing establishment in the city. It was located east of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh railroad and was the largest manufacturing institution in Belmont County in 1866 when it was incorporated on November 14. The first president was D. R. Cowen. Organized under the name of the Bellaire Works, it was changed later to Bellaire Nail Works on March 12. Later, in 1872, a blast furnace was created in connection with the nail mill. With a start of 50 machines, in 1874 an additional 40 nail machines were made. This building burnt down and was immediately replaced. They had a capacity of 200,000 kegs of nails per year and 15,000 tons of pig iron. At that time 400 hands were employed. This plant consumed from 14 to 15 thousand tons of limestone per year and this limestone was supplied by the A. McLain's limestone quarry which was located on Indian Run, Bellaire, about a mile west of the city. This quarry worked on the same plan as a coal bank, with a tunnel into the hill. There was about 6 feet of first quality stone underlying the hill.
BREWING COMPANIES The Bellaire Brewery, located at the corner of Hamilton and 32nd Streets, was built in 1903 by William Feller. This building, which had been vacant since the Bellaire Beverage Company went out of business in 1924, was the future home of the Matz Brewery.	photo courtesy of Albert Doughty, Jr.
CARNEGIE STEEL MILL (photo source unknown)	Carnegie Steel Mill 1911 (on the current site of Delta Concrete and the Bellaire Industrial Complex)
FLOURING MILLS The first flouring mill in Bellaire was started by the Ault Brothers in 1868. Purchased from owners near Glencoe, where is it was first built, it was torn down and rebuilt in Bellaire. A second mill was built near the Bellaire & South West Railroad depot in 1873. This was a brick building. The first owners failed in the business and in 1879, Hill, Stewart, and Ward purchased the property and continued the operation.
LIGHTING In 1876 a number of business men of Bellaire, believing that there was a demand for better illumination than that given by oil lamps, organized a company for the manufacture, distribution and sale of gas produced by the distillation of coal, which was incorporated under the name of The Bellaire Gas Light & Coke Co. A franchise was secured from the City of Bellaire and a gas works was erected, distribution mains laid and the sale of gas to the residents and merchants began the following year. The rate for gas was $2.25 per 1000 cu. ft. Arc lamps for street lighting came into vogue in the 1880s, and in 1889 the directors of the company came to the conclusion that the use of electricity for lighting the streets offered a more profitable field than gas, and as their existing charter and franchise only covered the gas industry, secured a new charter to include electricity under the name of The Bellaire Gas & Electric Co. A brick building, consisting of an engine room to house two engines and generators, and a boiler room for two return tubular boilers was erected adjacent to the Baltimore & Ohio R.R. at 27th Street and Cherry Alley. In 1899 the company purchased the property of the Bellaire Tumbler Co. at 36th and Monroe Streets adjacent to the Baltimore & Ohio R.R. and began construction of a new plant. In 1910 a proposal was made to purchase all of the stock of the company which culminated in the sale of the company to the Wheeling Electric Co. in 1911. The generating plant at Bellaire was operated until 1913 at which time the load was transferred to Wheeling and the Bellaire plant shut down. On March 23, 1914, the plant was called into service for a short time after a situation developed which required the Bellaire plant to carry its full quota of the load and continue until the problem was resolved.
SAW MILLS AND LUMBER DEALERS John Warnock erected a sawmill on McMahon's Creek, Smith Township in 1806. In 1854, A. W. Anderson began a lumber business in Bellaire. After he began the manufacture of doors and sashes he took Alexander Dubois as his partner. He sold his interest to C. W. Carroll in 1870. Julius Armstrong became a partner and the name became Carroll, Armstrong and Company. Dubois continued business independently until his death in 1875 when John Dubois carried on the business.
Sources: History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio 1880 by J.A. Caldwell Belmont County History of Facts and Traditions 1965-1989 compiled by the Belmont County Extension Homemakers Council and Citizens Committee American Breweriana Journal, May-June 2003, article written by Albert Doughty, Jr.