Series 3: Norfolk Creosoting Company, 1900-1950

Containers:

Box-folder

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Edwin F. Conger purchased and operated the Norfolk Creosoting Company for a relatively short time, but it proved to be one of his most successful ventures. Motivated by the success of E. F. Conger Company, Conger sought a facility with deep water access in order to move his operations more significantly into the coastwise trade in and supply of treated poles. The operations at Norfolk proved as important to shipping as they did to pole production and treatment.

The files here include a booklet produced by the Norfolk Creosoting Company long before Conger acquired it, along with another valuable photograph album documenting pole installation in the New York metropolitan area in the 1930s. Conger both collected writings about and wrote himself regarding pole treatment. Perhaps most interesting are the photographs showing the plant at Norfolk and its various operations. Because of the success of this venture, Conger was able to acquire a large number of acres of timber outside of Aiken, South Carolina (known by the name of one of its previous owners, the Hitchcock Woods). This provided him with an abundant supply of chestnut poles and also figured significantly in his future commitments to re-forestry and philanthropy. Through this company, Conger also purchased a stately residence in Staunton, Va. ("Breezy Hill"), which he used as a corporate headquarters (his wife served as treasurer of the company). Although the plant and some company assets were sold during World War II, the company itself did not actually dissolve until around 1950.

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