National Enameling and Stamping Company

National Enameling and Stamping Company - Baltimore
National Enameling and Stamping Company, December 2011
National Enameling and Stamping Company
Location in Baltimore
National Enameling and Stamping Company
Location in Maryland
National Enameling and Stamping Company
Location in the United States
Location1901 Light St., Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°16′4″N 76°36′38″W / 39.26778°N 76.61056°W / 39.26778; -76.61056
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1860
ArchitectPohl, Anton; et al.
Architectural styleGothic Revival, Late Victorian
NRHP reference No.02001583[1]
Added to NRHPDecember 30, 2002

National Enameling and Stamping Company was incorporated in New Jersey on 21 January 1899.[2] It absorbed several U.S. firms long embroiled in legal disputes about proprietary manufacturing processes: the St. Louis Stamping Company, Kieckhefer Brothers Co. (Milwaukee), Haberman Manufacturing Co. (Brooklyn), and Matthai, Ingram and Co. (Baltimore).[3] In the early 20th century, one of its trade-name brands was Royal Granite Enameled Ware.[4] Another was the "Nesco Perfect Oil Cook Stove." [5] By 1940 the NESCO plant in Granite City, IL (near St. Louis) alone had 1500 employees.[6] By the mid-1940s the firm billed itself as "The World's Largest Manufacturer of Housewares."[7] Metal Ware, of Two Rivers, WI, purchased NESCO in 1981.

Baltimore Factory (Matthai, Ingram---later NESCO)

One former National Enameling and Stamping Company plant is the historic factory complex located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was constructed in 1887 by Matthai, Ingram, and Co.--one of the metalworking firms absorbed in the incorporation of NESCO in 1899.[8] The densely packed complex fills an almost 5-acre (2.0 ha) site and consists of 17 interconnected buildings and one structure that vary in height from one to five stories. The complex was organized to house three primary functions in discrete sections: the manufacture of tinware, the manufacture of enameled and japanned wares, and storage, warehousing, and distribution. The plant ceased production of tinware and enameled wares in 1952.[9]

NESCO owner George Worth Knapp lived nearby at the Hilton estate and dairy farm near Catonsville, Maryland purchased in 1917.[10]

National Enameling and Stamping Company was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Two New Trusts: Both Were Incorporated in New Jersey Today." Brooklyn Times-Union, 21 January 1899, 8.
  3. ^ "Two New Trusts: Both Were Incorporated in New Jersey Today." Brooklyn Times-Union, 21 January 1899, 8.
  4. ^ "Quality Plus" (NESCO advertisement). Ladies Home Journal 32:4 (April 1915), 87.
  5. ^ "We Cut Our Fuel Bills in Half" (NESCO advertisement). Good Housekeeping 76:5 (May 1923), 264.
  6. ^ "$50,000 in Bonuses." St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 24 December 1942, 3A.
  7. ^ "A Day To Look Forward To" (NESCO advertisement). Better Homes and Gardens 22:10 (June 1944), 70.
  8. ^ https://apps.mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?NRID=1380
  9. ^ Jennifer Goold and Betty Bird (June 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: National Enameling and Stamping Company" (PDF). Maryland Historical Trust. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  10. ^ "Maryland State Archives" (PDF). Retrieved December 15, 2013.