*** ONLINE AS OF AUGUST 5, 2011 ***
    



New Castle Box Company - Mahoningtown (New Castle) PA

Text Coming Soon!


In 1899 the New Castle Box Company was established by a firm out of Muskegon, Michigan, led by businessman Thomas Munroe. The plant, led by Hugh McIlwraith, was located on North Cedar Street in Mahoningtown. I believe the facility initially manufactured boxes out of tin plate, which was produced in great quantities in the local factories. The plant slowly grew but was lost to a devastating fire on May 21, 1912. The machinery was temporarily set up in a nearby building while the plant was rebuilt. The enlarged plant was reopened by early 1913 and business boomed in the coming years. In October 1931 the company was merged with several others in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana to form the new Associated Box Company. The new concern was headquartered in Michigan but its main operating plant was in Mahoningtown. The facility closed down sometime in the 1960’s. (c1918) Full Size

Comments

  1. This company was man run by two main men who were maltree & sam byres. They were both friends of mine. They had a Company in Gary Indiana and traveled there on the B&O Railroad when I was a ticket agent. I miss the both of them. Harry Banks

  2. I am Jean McIlwraith Tebay. My dad, John McIlwraith, was president of the New Castle Box Company from the 1930s until his retirement in about 1970. Sam Byers took over from my father. For the record, the box company did not manufacture boxes out of tin plate, but rather manufactured wooden pallets for shipping tin plate.The company also manufactured wood cases for soft drink bottles and the like; and, during WWII, manufactured crates for shipping K-rations. In the 1960s it was bought by Union Corp., a Pittsburgh firm, but continued to operate as Associated Box. I am not certain when it stopped manufacturing.

  3. My father, Stanley Kocur, worked for John McIlwraith and ran the Associated Box Corporation plant in East Chicago, Indiana. My father made many a business trip to New Castle. Mr. McIlwraith introduced our family to Walloon Lake, where the company owned the beautiful log cabin that my family enjoyed for 35 summers. Because of that I eventually made Walloon Lake my permanent home.

    Jean, would love to communicate with you.

Comment

Enter your comment below. Fields marked * are required. You must preview your comment before submitting it.