Lehigh Portland Cement Plant

Iola Portland Cement Plant

Construction on the Iola Portland Cement Plant started in 1899 on 600 acres of land just south of town. Being one of a handful of popup cement plants in the Kansas area it promised jobs and an economic boost to its hometown and the surrounding areas. The plant promised lots of success with “inexhaustible” resources of shale, carbonate of lime, and silica all found nearby. Work was pushed rapidly to meet an opening date of April 1900 for the 3,000-barrel capacity plant. The facility would include a main building of 500 x 450 feet and be completely fireproof. In addition, there will be offices, storage warehouses, and employee dormitories. At the time of opening as a gift to the city, the company donated 250 barrels of cement to aid in the reconstruction of the Convention Hall. This was a great start to the company’s reputation and relationship with the town.

The demand for Portland cement from the company skyrocketed causing the plant to struggle to keep up with orders and thus the need for an expansion was discussed. The expansion would include two sections and increase the capacity from 3,000 to 5,000 barrels per day. Employment at the company rose to 650 men, and the expansion in building and workers made the Iola Cement Plant the biggest in the United States. Common laborers made wages of 14-15 cents per hour, which equates to $4.35 in today’s money.

In 1915 the plant was changed from a dry process to a wet process factory. The change entailed the purchase of a considerable amount of new machinery and a reorganization of the processes of manufacture, but the owners felt that a better grade of cement could be manufactured by using the wet mix method. Their decision proved wise, for the Iola cement was unlike any other in the world.

Although the demand was high for Portlands products like many of the other cement plants in the area like Concreto, Le Hunt, and Carlyle they all experienced financial troubles. The plant was sold just five years after opening to a syndicate of George E. Nicholson. But the Nicholson management proved to be unsuccessful as well leading to a reorganization of the Portland Cement Company to take over the Iola plant again. But after many years the reorganization was unsuccessful and the plant deemed the “largest in the world” was sold in 1917.

Lehigh Portland Cement Plant

The plant was purchased by the Lehigh Portland Cement Company out of Allentown, Pa., and Chicago, including a bonded indebtedness of $400,000. The valuation of the plant was $79,500 and the plant was renamed the Lehigh Cement Plant. The plant would continue on the legacy left by the last name and become one of the biggest cement manufacturers in the USA. This proved to be true in 1923 when Lehigh beat a personal record of selling 1,250,00 barrels of cement in one year. This was just about the maximum capacity of the plant and surpassed the number sold in 1922 by a quarter of a million barrels.

Over the next fifty years, the Lehigh Cement Plant was the single largest employer in the county and employed almost a thousand men at its peak. It managed to outlast all of the other cement companies in the area, most shut down between 1910-1925. The cause for most of the shutdowns was fluctuating demand, a lot of competition in the Southern Kansas area, and the economy through the Great Depression. But Lehigh at Iola prevailed and lasted until 1971 when the company sold off a lot of plants, one of those being the Iola plant. Lehigh Cement Company lost $7.5 million in 1970 because it took a heavy hit of $8.9 million to close a handful of its plants. Amongst those sold and closed were eleven Virginia plants that were sold to Florida Rock Industries Inc. in 1972. The closures came following an order by the Federal Trade Commission directing it to divest itself of the 17 Virginia and Kentucky plants. The company used about $13 million of the proceeds to buy back shares of its own stock at a price well below book value. In 1974 Lehigh Cement completed the FTC-ordered divestiture by selling its six Kentucky concrete plants.

In 1971, The Lehigh Portland Cement Plant at Iola closed for good causing massive economic turmoil and putting hundreds out of a job. Iola Industries, Inc. purchased all of the buildings, land, and equipment on the grounds. They sold off all of the equipment at an auction and sold some of the buildings to Allen County for use as a warehouse and shop. The quarry, which is now a lake, is leased to the Iola Elks Lodge for recreational purposes.

Lehigh Portland Trails

Iola Industries Inc. granted an easement to the Sunflower Rail-Trails Conservancy, Inc. for Thrive Allen County to build the Lehigh Portland Trails on the property, via a Healthy Living grant from the Kansas Health Foundation. The name represents Iola’s past as an industrial hub in Southern Kansas and with the help of the community, the trails have become a recreational hotspot. The trails are free and open to the public year-round, they are especially great to hike in the spring when all the flowers are bloom creating a whimsical atmosphere. You can bike, run, walk, picnic, or sit by the lake on the more than 100 acres of rugged woodlands, lively prairie, and scenic views of the lovely spring-fed quarry lake. The Lehigh Portland Trails feature over 13 miles of rail-trail-style gravel-surfaced trails and natural-surface singletrack trails.

Article by AKS Photojournalists Trevor Hoag and Emily Cowan.

Gallery Below of Lehigh Portland Cement Plant

 

 

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