[Property of the Olin Corporation in East Alton, Illinois]

Selling railroad property to the Olin Corporation in East Alton, IL.

This interesting archive of documents, letters, track plans, property diagrams, and legal agreements dates to the late 1960s and early 1970s. They reflect several sales of surplus properties owned by the Penn Central Railroad across East Alton, Illinois; an industrial town on the Mississippi River about 20 miles north of St. Louis. A notable buyer is the Olin Corporation; manufacturer of Winchester firearms, ammunition, and chemical products. According to Harvard Business School;

“From small businesses in salt, alkali, and blasting powder, the Olin Mathieson Corporation built a large company producing metals, ammunition, and various chemicals. The company started from two unrelated businesses, both founded in 1892, which merged in 1954. Through expansion and acquisition, the companies grew into the chemical giant now known as the Olin Corporation. Equitable Powder Company of East Alton, Illinois, was established by Franklin W. Olin as a blasting powder manufacturer for coal mines. Olin founded the Western Cartridge Company in 1898 to sell ammunition, another use of blasting powder. During the First World War, Olin began manufacturing the brass needed for wartime ammunition. The company continued to produce brass and copper alloys after the war.

In 1931 Western Cartridge bought the bankrupt Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which had been founded in 1866. The ammunition business was renamed Winchester-Western. During the Second World War, the company produced 15 billion rounds of ammunition. It also introduced the M1 rifle, which became standard issue for American soldiers in the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. In 1944 the Olin businesses were reorganized as Olin Industries. The company began expanding in the late 1940s and 1950s via acquisition and diversification into the cellophane, lumber, paper, and power tool industries.”

The collection includes several records related to the Western Cartridge Company, including a large blueprint outline of the railroad tracks that serve the company grounds.

Source: Harvard Business School Baker Library