The Haunting and Strangely Beautiful Decay of Wheeling’s Hazel-Atlas Factory
On a sunny spring morning, we entered the belly of the sprawling complex. Current owner, Frank Calabrese, ushered a small group of Wheeling history devotees, myself included, through a dark garage door entrance. On the other side of an aisle lined with architectural salvage, we emerged, bathed once again in sunlight, into the expansive courtyard of Wheeling’s Hazel-Atlas factory.
Only once surrounded by the four walls of the inner sanctum, did I truly get a sense of how large this former cathedral of industry is.
There is something about the contrast of sheer size of certain places and the realization of our own individual smallness that is akin to religion. Something that takes our breath away for a split second and inspires us to utter the word awesome in the way it was meant to be used. I have experienced this feeling while watching clouds roll by from the peaks of mountaintops, sitting in solemn pews in empty cathedrals, peering out into seemingly unending oceans. And I have experienced this feeling, once again, winding through the labyrinthine halls of the Hazel-Atlas factory.
The impressive complex, which sits just beyond the Route 2 overpass near 19th Street, had a rather humble beginning as a single story building, the first of many to be built by The Wheeling Hinge Company. Incorporated in June of 1865, according to an 1886 article in the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, this humble start did not last long.
“The [Wheeling Hinge] Company purchased two lots at the corner of Nineteenth [formerly Lindsley] and Jacob [formerly Sixth] streets, and erected a one-story frame building on Jacob street 35 by 150 feet, and commenced with one set of machinery to manufacture strap and T hinges. In the fall of 1866 it was found necessary to increase the facilities for handling the product of the factory, and the large three-story brick building 35 by 100 feet was added. In the spring of 1874 another addition of 35 by 150 feet was added to the factory and additional machinery place therein. The main building, under one roof, is now 70 by 250 feet, three stories in front and one story in rear. On the same lot are five other buildings, used for various purposes in the manufacture of their product.1“
By the time the then Wellsburg based Hazel Glass Company was established in 1885, the Wheeling Hinge Company had been manufactoring metal products in its ever-expanding factory for twenty years.
In its early years, the burgeoning glass company purchased zinc caps for its production of Mason jars from other companies. “Seeing the opportunity for improvement in quality control and cost savings plus potential profit, another brother of [Hazel Glass Company co-founder] Charles Brady, J.C. Brady, began a small operation producing zinc caps under the name of Wheeling Metal Plant. This company was located in rented space secured from the Wheeling Hinge Company on Nineteenth Street in Wheeling. Later Wheeling Hinge Company ceased operations and Wheeling Metal Company took over the entire space.2”
Acts of the Legislature of West Virginia at its Twentieth Regular Session Commencing January 14, 1891, printed by Moses W. Donnally, Public Printer, Charleston, W. Va., in 1891, shows the incorporation of the Wheeling Metal Plant company as the twenty-seventh day of June, 1890. And the seedling that would become the Hazel-Atlas legacy in Wheeling was planted. Twenty-two years later, in 1902, the Hazel Company and the Atlas Glass Company “combined forces along with Republic Glass and the Wheeling Metal Company, and the birth of a new corporate giant occurred.3”
At its peak, the Hazel-Atlas Corporation operated 13 plants when, in 1956, the Continental Can Company purchased the firm. However, the sale was tied up in anti-trust litigation until 1964, at which point the majority of the factories were sold off. In 1971, the local plant was purchased, and passed the through hands of investment firms before being bought by Frank Calabrese4.
Calabrese, who has made his living as a demolition contractor and seller of architectural salvage, spoke lovingly of past plans to save magnificent, sun-drenched rooms, massive quiet contemplative catacombs, and the historic foundation of that first single story building that became the keystone to what became an empire, as he led our small group about these haunted and strangely beautiful decaying halls. He is looking for some redemption for a career made out of destruction. On this sunny day in spring, I believe he found some.
Sometimes I can’t help but feel the silent eyes of the past staring at me as I wander through abandoned rooms and empty corridors. I often wondered what walls would say if they could speak. I can’t speak for the walls of the Hazel-Atlas factory, but I can take pictures of them and let them speak for themselves.
(Photographs by Erin Rothenbuehler and Seán Duffy)
The Friends of Wheeling, led by Frank Calabrese, will be touring the Hazel-Atlas on May 20, 2015. For more information, contact Friends of Wheeling.
Many, many thanks go out to Frank Calabrese and to Margaret Brennan and Jeanne Finstein for once again inviting the Ohio County Public Library Archives staff tag along on a tour of one of Wheeling’s magnificent historic structures.
Bibliography
- (1886, September 14). The Wheeling Hinge Company. The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer.
- Weiskircher, J. (2003). Hazel-Atlas: A Home-Grown Corporation. West Virginia Historical Society Quarterly, XVII(2).
- Ibid
- (2015, January 18). The Intelligencer.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the article and the photograph tour. I wonder if there were employee records stored somewhere. It would be interesting to view those and genealogists would love that find!
Many of the employee visited my zanke’s cafe on a Friday afternoon after getting paid
Gigi, we are not sure about what happened to the employee records. A suggestion may be to attend the Friends of Wheeling tour on May 20th and ask in person. Another suggestion might be to contact the West Virginia Northern Community College Alumni Association, as they bought the Hazel-Atlas administrative office where the records where likely kept. Their contact information is on their website: http://www.wvncc.edu/alumni
My dad and uncle worked here and then my two brothers worked at ccc continental can co.
My Father and Grandfather worked for Hazel Atlas and Continental Can in this building….I enjoyed the photographic tour and would love to visit it in person. I, too, am wondering if there are employee records or photographs still on-site.
Tina, the Friends of Wheeling are taking a tour of the Hazel-Atlas factory on May 20th. If you’d like to attend, their contact information can be found on their website: http://jfinstein.wix.com/friends-of-wheeling
As far as the employee records go, see our response to Gigi above.
I worked at the old Hazel-Atlas building from 1957 thru 1975. I started as a office boy and left when I was the head of the Accounting Dept. I started just after Continental Can Corp. took over Hazel-Atlas and then went thru the process in 1970 when a few local business men (Arch Riley, Bill Doepken & a few others) purchased the plant from Continental Can and remamed it Wheeling Closure Corp. The plant, In addition to making the Atlas Home Canning Lids, also made all of the lids for Avon Cosmetic Creams, Jif Peanut Butter, Taster Choice Coffee and lids for many other companies. The plant employed about 300 employees and was working three shifts a day when I worked there. I don’t know what year they went bankrupt and closed down, but I believe Arch Riley Law Office handled the bankruptcy and they would know what happened to all of the employee records. I drive by the plant whenever I visit Wheeling and I feel sad to see what it looks like now.
Great article and photos Erin!!
Thank you for this article. Really enjoyed it. Thanks Frank for reposting.
My grandfather Mike Flaherty worked here, the 3 to 11 shift & as a little girl, I would hold his hand & walk him to work, since he lived diagonally across the street at 83- 19th street! My Aunt worked there also!
i would like to know if you are still giving tours in 2022-2023 and if you would have a book or reading material about the lids that they manufactured. my grandmother and great-aunt’s worked there in the 1920’s, before 1928.