By 1880, Indianapolis was the third-largest meat-packing city in the country. One of the businesses in the city was the Deschler meat packing company in the backyard of their property on 423 California Street.. The Deschlers immigrated to Indianapolis from Germany in the 1860s and quickly established themselves in the food industry. They later would merge with another food industry company nearby and continue to build a prominent food business in the city.
The Kingan and Company meat packing plant at Maryland and Blackford Street in Indianapolis, Indiana, was larger than Deschler’s. Belfast resident Samuel Kingan founded his meat-packing company in Northern Ireland in 1845. Kingan opened additional factories in Brooklyn, New York, and Cincinnati, Ohio, before establishing the Indianapolis plant in 1863. An article in The Indianapolis Star boasted that workers at the new facilities would kill and pack 2,500 hogs per day.
Kingan and Company recruited mostly Irish immigrants for jobs at the plant. Employment opportunities drew more Irish to the nearby community. Some new arrivals sent their belongings directly from Ireland to the Kingan plant. Immigrants from all over Ireland lived in small homes and boarding houses in the neighborhood surrounding the plant.
The workers at the Kingan and Company meat-packing plant often endured long hours and dirty, dangerous conditions. The factory was loud with the sounds of squealing hogs and processing machines. Witnesses described conveyors of dead animals passing through crowds of workers at all hours of the day. The workers used cleavers to chop the meat going by, leaving blood and entrails all over the factory floor. Most of the employees were Irish men, but photos from the time show some women and children at work in the plant. Child labor was not uncommon in the 19th century. Many working-class children needed to earn money to help support their families, even though child labor is harmful to kids’ health and development.
The multiple stops on Blackford Street encompass the sites where both the Deschler and Kingan meat-packing facilities operated. Further north on Blackford Street, looking toward California Street, the Deschler Meat Packing Company operated. Further south on Blackford, at the intersection of Blackford and Maryland Street, one can look at the former site of the Kingan and Company meat-packing plant. Both sites played a major role in the history of Indianapolis and its industry.
]]>From the mid-1820s to the Civil War, shipbuilding fueled New Albany’s economic growth. New Albany shipyards produced $12 million worth of rivercraft by 1860. Production began in 1819 and peaked in 1856, when New Albany builders produced twenty-two boats. Riverboat construction attracted skilled craftsmen to the city and created a thriving industrial complex. During the 1850s, the five largest yards employed about 450 laborers and mechanics. Master builders gained fame and fortune by supervising construction of large ships destined for service on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Six firms dominated the shipbuilding trade: Dowerman and Humphreys, William Jones, Charles Wible, John Evans, Peter Tellon and Jacob Alford, and George Armstrong. New Albany became second to Pittsburgh in the tonnage launched from its riverfront. The town’s location at the northern terminus of the shipping route between New Orleans and the Falls of the Ohio and its proximity hardwood forests benefited shipbuilders. Firms that supplied goods and services to shipyards employed hundreds of workers. Foundries, cabinetmakers, blacksmiths, and tin and coppersmiths prospered. The Phoenix Foundry, founded by William Lent, Benjamin South, and W. C. Shipman, became a leading producer of steamboat engines and boilers. By 1860 it employed over 100 workers. Historian Lawrence Lipin has estimated that suppliers to New Albany shipyards employed between 2,000 and 2,500 “able-bodied mechanics, artisans, and laborers.”
New Albany shipyards built several ships that became famous because of their elegance and exploits. The Eclipse (1852), the A. L. Shotwell (1853), and the Baltic (1856) all became widely known. The Eclipse was one of the largest boats built west of the Appalachian Mountains. At 1,117 tons, it was about three times as large as most boats on the western rivers. Like other “best boats,” it featured elegant interiors designed to woo guests with luxury and comfort. An opulent grand saloon, or main cabin, served as the ship’s dining room and main social venue. One hundred and forty staterooms stood alongside.
Like other highly touted vessels, the Eclipse also drew attention for its speed. It participated in the most famous steamboat race before the Civil War, a contest with the A. L. Shotwell. The race failed to produce a victor—the captains of both vessels claimed the win—but attracted great notoriety.
Shipbuilding ended in New Albany after the Civil War. Railroads quickly supplanted riverboats as the preferred means of moving goods and people. The firm of Murray and Company remained in business by concentrating on production of flatboats and barges for carrying coal and other heavy freight. Foundries and cabinetmakers turned to other markets, and craftsmen and laborers went to work for new employers. New Albany remained a manufacturing and shipping center, but its boatbuilding days lay in the past.
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