Solvay Process Company
Encyclopedia
The Solvay Process Company (1880–1985) was a pioneer chemical industry of the United States
in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in Central New York
. The company was the origin of the village of Solvay
.
The Solvay Process Company was a joint venture between the inventing chemists, Belgian
s Ernest
and Alfred Solvay, who owned the patent
rights to the Solvay process
, and Americans William B. Cogswell (1834–1921) and Rowland Hazard II (1829–1898). Cogswell, a former resident of Syracuse, New York
, was an engineer who was familiar with the natural resources of Central New York
that would be available for use in process. He was employed as a mining engineer by one of the Hazard family businesses at the time. Knowing that American industry was importing soda ash from Europe, Cogswell envisioned utilizing the process in America, and in Solvay, New York
.
After several refusals, Cogswell finally secured American rights to the Solvay process. He required capital to build a production facility, which he obtained from Roland Hazard II
, scion of an old Rhode Island
family. Roland Hazard was the major American investor in the company and its first president. His son, Frederick Rowland Hazard, was an initial officer and subsequently became president. William B. Cogswell served as vice-president. Frederick's brother Rowland G. Hazard II (1855–1918) followed Cogswell as vice-president, serving many years in that role.
The Solvay brothers in Belgium
had a one-third interest in the company. To produce soda ash, the Solvay process requires salt brine and limestone
, both of which were readily secured in this area. Wells in the town of Tully
provided salt brine, pumped through a pipeline to Solvay. A remarkable elevated conveyor, with buckets suspended from a cable loop, passed by means of a tunnel through a hill
to deliver stone from company quarries at Split Rock
, in the Town of Onondaga, about four miles to the south.
The Erie Canal
passed through the Solvay Process plant, providing water transport, as did subsequently Onondaga Lake
, connected to the New York State canal system. The main line of the New York Central Railroad
also passed through company property, providing transport.
The village grew around the Solvay Process plant. The Church and Dwight Company, producer of "Arm and Hammer Baking Soda," which used material from the Solvay Process, built a production facility nearby.
; Buffalo, New York
; Detroit, Michigan
; and Ironton, Ohio
. Semet-Solvay operated its own mines
in West Virginia
, providing much of its coal supply.
Eugene Meyer persuaded Orlando Weber to take charge of Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation. An inscrutable man of mystery, Weber initiated an autocratic regime (1920–1935) which was successful financially, but at the cost of reversing previously agreed policy about company autonomy. The family attempted to gain a controlling interest by quietly acquiring large amounts of stock in the corporation. They failed however to return operations of the plant to local control, or to enable reemployment of personnel terminated by the new corporation, contrary to agreement with the Hazard family. Members of the family remained in Solvay and subsequently in Syracuse and Cazenovia, New York
. The family has been notable for active participation in reform movements and for philanthropy, such major gifts to the Syracuse Hospital for Women and Children, which became Memorial Hospital, now Crouse-Irving Hospital.
William B. Cogswell, vice-president of the Solvay Process Company, resided in a landmark mansion (1906) designed by Syracuse architect James A. Randall at 1234 James Street in Syracuse until Cogswell died in 1921. The large property became the residence of Roman Catholic bishops of the Diocese of Syracuse but was destroyed by fire
The Solvay Process Company plant at Solvay, New York
closed in 1985 and was demolished.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the manufacture of soda ash and a major employer in Central New York
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
. The company was the origin of the village of Solvay
Solvay, New York
Solvay is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, and a suburb of the city of Syracuse. According to the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 6,845...
.
History
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
s Ernest
Ernest Solvay
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.Born at Rebecq, he was prevented by acute pleurisy from going to university...
and Alfred Solvay, who owned the patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
rights to the Solvay process
Solvay process
The Solvay process, also referred to as the ammonia-soda process, is the major industrial process for the production of soda ash . The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by Ernest Solvay during the 1860s...
, and Americans William B. Cogswell (1834–1921) and Rowland Hazard II (1829–1898). Cogswell, a former resident of Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, was an engineer who was familiar with the natural resources of Central New York
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
that would be available for use in process. He was employed as a mining engineer by one of the Hazard family businesses at the time. Knowing that American industry was importing soda ash from Europe, Cogswell envisioned utilizing the process in America, and in Solvay, New York
Solvay, New York
Solvay is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, and a suburb of the city of Syracuse. According to the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 6,845...
.
After several refusals, Cogswell finally secured American rights to the Solvay process. He required capital to build a production facility, which he obtained from Roland Hazard II
Hazard family
Members of the Hazard family were among the first settlers of the State of Rhode Island. Descendants have been known for military achievement, business success, philanthropy, and broad social activism spanning such causes as abolition of slavery, treatment of the insane and alcoholics, family...
, scion of an old Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
family. Roland Hazard was the major American investor in the company and its first president. His son, Frederick Rowland Hazard, was an initial officer and subsequently became president. William B. Cogswell served as vice-president. Frederick's brother Rowland G. Hazard II (1855–1918) followed Cogswell as vice-president, serving many years in that role.
The Solvay brothers in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
had a one-third interest in the company. To produce soda ash, the Solvay process requires salt brine and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, both of which were readily secured in this area. Wells in the town of Tully
Tully (town), New York
Tully is a town in Onondaga County, New York, USA. The population of the town was 2,709 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. The town is on the county's south border, south of Syracuse....
provided salt brine, pumped through a pipeline to Solvay. A remarkable elevated conveyor, with buckets suspended from a cable loop, passed by means of a tunnel through a hill
to deliver stone from company quarries at Split Rock
Split Rock, New York
Split Rock is a hamlet in the Town of Onondaga in Onondaga County, New York. Today more a historic place than a community, Split Rock is a site of great interest to industrial archeology. The Solvay Process Company developed quarry operations here, delivering limestone used for the Solvay process...
, in the Town of Onondaga, about four miles to the south.
The Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
passed through the Solvay Process plant, providing water transport, as did subsequently Onondaga Lake
Onondaga Lake
Onondaga Lake is a lake in Central New York located northwest of Syracuse, New York. The southeastern end of the lake and the southwestern shore abut industrial areas and expressways; the northeastern shore and northwestern end border a series of parks and museums. Although it is near the Finger...
, connected to the New York State canal system. The main line of the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
also passed through company property, providing transport.
The village grew around the Solvay Process plant. The Church and Dwight Company, producer of "Arm and Hammer Baking Soda," which used material from the Solvay Process, built a production facility nearby.
Waste beds
Large marshlands around the lake serve as a place for disposal of sludge from the process, leaving extensive "waste beds." These have contributed to the grave pollution of the lake.Semet-Solvay coke ovens
The Hazard family invested in an affiliated business, the Semet-Solvay Company, formed in 1895. Louis Semet, a relative of Ernest and Alfred Solvay, had developed with the brothers a coke oven designed to recover valuable materials formerly wasted in the coking process. In 1892 the Solvay Process Company built the first of the ovens in America, forming the Semet-Solvay Company three years later to build and operate them. Coke plants were located in Ashland, KentuckyAshland, Kentucky
Ashland, formerly known as Poage Settlement, is a city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States, nestled along the banks of the Ohio River. The population was 21,981 at the 2000 census. Ashland is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the 2000 census, the...
; Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
; Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
; and Ironton, Ohio
Ironton, Ohio
Ironton is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Lawrence County. The municipality is located in southern Ohio along the Ohio River. The population was 11,211 at the 2000 census. Ironton is a part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH, Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of the...
. Semet-Solvay operated its own mines
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, providing much of its coal supply.
Absorption by Allied Chemical
Both the Solvay Process Company and the Semet-Solvay Company in 1920 were absorbed by the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation, a merger promoted by chemist William Nichols and financier Eugene Meyer. William Henry Nichols had started a small sulphuric acid plant in 1870 and by 1900 he controlled several chemical companies. Nichols was a founding member of the American Chemical Society in 1876, serving twice as its president, and is memorialized by the Nichols Medal for chemical research. Eugene Meyer, a financial genius, was publisher of the Washington Post. Nichols, having observer American dependence on German chemical production, hence vulnerability during World War I, envisioned consolidation and recapitalization of the American chemical industry. He shared this concept with Eugene Meyer, who had the financial capability to realize such a vision. Formed in 1920 and based in New York City, the Allied Chemical and Dye corporation combined five chemical companies. When proposed, the promoters assured the companies that each would retain autonomy of operations. The Hazard family soon recognized default on agreement with the promoters of the holding company. The family controlled not merely the Solvay Process Company, but also the second of the five companies merged into the new corporation, the Semet-Solvay Company (founded 1894) that manufacturing coke and its by-products.Cazenovia, New York
Cazenovia is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,481 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Theophilus Cazenove, an agent of the Holland Land Company.The Town of Cazenovia has a village also named Cazenovia...
. The family has been notable for active participation in reform movements and for philanthropy, such major gifts to the Syracuse Hospital for Women and Children, which became Memorial Hospital, now Crouse-Irving Hospital.
William B. Cogswell, vice-president of the Solvay Process Company, resided in a landmark mansion (1906) designed by Syracuse architect James A. Randall at 1234 James Street in Syracuse until Cogswell died in 1921. The large property became the residence of Roman Catholic bishops of the Diocese of Syracuse but was destroyed by fire
The Solvay Process Company plant at Solvay, New York
Solvay, New York
Solvay is a village located in Onondaga County, New York, and a suburb of the city of Syracuse. According to the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 6,845...
closed in 1985 and was demolished.
External links
- Solvay Process Company photographs, Historic American Engineering Record http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/hhhtml/hhTitles306.html
- William B. Cogswell http://www.rpi.edu/about/hof/cogswell.html
- Onondaga Lake Pollution History http://www.onlakepartners.org/p1201.html
- Onondage Lake, NYS DEC http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/reg7/onlake/
- Honeywell and Onondaga Lake http://www.onondaganation.org/news.honeywelltimeline.html
- David M. Kiefer. "Soda Ash, Solvay Style." Today's Chemist, February 2002 http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/tcaw/11/i02/html/02chemchron.html