The Davies and Thomas Company
Excerpted from Burkhardt and Gemmel, A Profile of the Burroughs,
Catasauqua, Lehigh County, Pa.
Davies & Thomas Foundry – Race Street 1914
Among
the industrial organizations that brought fame and fortune to Catasauqua was
the Davies and Thomas Company. This company had its origin in 1865 when Daniel
Davies bought an old planing mill in Catasauqua and fitted it up as a grey iron
foundry and machine shop. Davies had as a partner, William Thomas, who remained
with the business for two years before returning to Wales. After this, the
business continued as Daniel Davies and Son until the death of Daniel Davies in
April, 1876.
Because
of poor business conditions, the works were shut down until 1879 when a second
partnership was formed with George Davies (son of Daniel) and James Thomas as
principals. The company did general foundry and machine work, produced vertical
and horizontal engines, car castings, and appliances for furnace mills and
mines. The plant covered twenty acres beside the Catasauqua Creek, on which
stood a number of buildings. Five vertical engines supplied the power.
Employees numbered approximately two hundred. By 1913, the foundry occupied 16,000
square feet of floor space and was equipped with electric and boom cranes and
four cupolas. There were three fully equipped machine shops. A large power
plant with a boiler and an engine room had been built for the manufacture of
electricity to run the entire plant. The plant had a capacity of two hundred
tons per day of finished castings. When fully operational, the plant employed
over six hundred men.
George
Davies died on October 1, 1894. In December of that year the firm of Davies and
Thomas Company was organized into a chartered company with James Thomas as
president. James Thomas died in December 1906 and his son Rowland D. Thomas
succeeded him as president. In 1911, Leonard Peckitt assumed the presidency. In
1923, while the company was engaged in making castings for the construction of
the Holland Tunnel, the general contractors of that project, G.H. Flin
Corporation of New York, came into control of the Davies and Thomas Company.
They installed S.M. Rutladge as president. Later, ownership changed again when
the U.S. Pipe and Foundry Company of New Jersey acquired control. They
appointed George Davies as president. Mr. Davies had been serving as general
sales agent for Davies and Thomas. Through the purchase of stock, Mr. Davies
gained control of the company in 1945. Between 1945 and 1947, the company
produced substantial tonnage of cast iron lining for the Battery to Brooklyn
tunnel. Shortly after this, operations were suspended and the Corporation was
liquidated. All physical assets were sold to the Schneider Associates of
Allentown, PA.
Davies
and Thomas Company became best known for its success in manufacturing tunnel
lining, as the company was a pioneer in the manufacture of iron plates for lining
tunnels under rivers by the shield method. Beginning in 1905, the company
supplied the cast‑iron segments for tubes for the under‑water
tunnels in New York City. Some of the prominent transportation projects in
which the Davies and Thomas product was used included the Holland Tunnel
(1923), the Lincoln Tunnel (1937), the Queens‑Midtown Tunnel (1936‑40),
and the Battery to Brooklyn Tunnel (1945). These were all vehicular tunnels.
Railroad tunnels included those for the Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels, the
Harlem River and the MacAdoo tunnels.
In
July 1904, it was reported in the Allentown, Pa. newspaper that the Davies and
Thomas Company had been awarded the largest contract for castings ever given to
a single firm. The Pennsylvania Railroad had decided to build an immense depot
in New York City and to tunnel beneath the North and the East Rivers. The
contract for the work at the East River was awarded to an English firm, J.
Pearson and Son. Four tubes, each more than a mile in length, would lie under the
river. The tubes were formed by cast‑iron segments, each 2 feet, 6 inches
wide and weighing 2300 pounds. Eleven segments formed one ring, 24 feet in
diameter. The contract required 108,000 tons of castings. A model of 8 rings,
20 feet long was made at the Davies and Thomas works for the Pennsylvania
Railroad and was later displayed at the St. Louis Exposition. At the time, C.R.
Horn was the general sales agent of the company and it was due to his efforts
that the contract was obtained.
Cast Iron tunnel segments from the Davies & Thomas Foundry ÒagingÓ on the hillside behind the Dery Silk Mill
In
1913, the newspaper again reported that Davies and Thomas had obtained a large
contract through the efforts of its agent, Mr. Horn. This contract was for the
manufacture of the lining of two large sewer tunnels for the Borough of Queens
on Long Island. Davies and Thomas was in competition for this contract with
eleven other firms including Bethlehem Steel. The news report noted that the
Davies and Thomas product was carefully made and that the plant was especially
well equipped for the work. "The segments are being faced in immense
planing mills and fitted together in circular lengths for the underground work,
being water tight and of sufficient strength to sustain great weight and
pressure."
Davies & Thomas workmen with a tunnel segment
Workmen of the Davies & Thomas Foundry (Back row, 5th from left: Quincy Spengler, grandfather of Ruth Ellen Spengler Klinesinith)
The
story of Davies and Thomas does not end with its dissolution in 1947. A news
story date lined May 15, 1949 relates the following:
The
terrific explosion in New York's Holland Tunnel Friday provided a testimonial
to the former Davies‑Thomas Foundry in Catasauqua.
About
42,000 tons of steel segments produced at the Catasauqua plant went into the
construction of the tunnel in 1923. Although weakened, the tunnel failed to
crack when eighty drums of carbon disulfide, highly toxic and inflammable, on a
heavily laden chemical truck, exploded. Searching fireboats failed to find any
indications of a leak in the tunnel.
The
Davies‑Thomas Foundry contributed steel used in underground tunnels and
railroads in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, and Baltimore. More than
eight per cent of the steel used in tunnels under New York harbor is the
product of this foundry.
Davies & Thomas executives pose before tunnel ring, circa 1904
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