Portland Buckeye Cement Company

Removing a section of concrete on E. Columbus Ave. for the 1893 World's Fair.

Buckeye Portland Cement Co. c 1910

View of the plant looking west as it looked 1889-1895

Map showing the location of Marl City in Rushcreek Township

Buckeye Portland Cement Works with rotary kiln visible on right

American Refractory workers at the Marl City plant c. 1918

Buckeye Portland kilns at Marl City

Prior to the 1880s, an extensive marshy wetland, partial remains of an Ice Age lake, lay in the area east of the Rushsylvania Pike (Co. Rd. 9) south of Rushsylvania.  Underlying much of this area were significant quantities of shell marl and silica-rich glacial clays.  Dredging of the channel of Rush Creek in the mid-1870s revealed their existence. Information regarding the exposure reached the owners of the Alamo Cement Company in San Antonio, Texas, who sent George Bartholomew to establish if both the quantity and quality of these two ingredients were adequate to produce Portland cement. His testing led to the purchase of several hundred acres in Rush Creek Township by the Texans in August of 1887.  By October of that year, negotiations were underway to procure a right-of-way from Co. Rd. 9 to the site of a proposed cement plant.

The Buckeye Portland Cement Co. was organized in late 1887 with George H. Kaltyer of the Alamo Cement Co. as President, G.W. Bartholomew, Treasurer and Manager, and C. Baumbarger as Secretary. By December, a railway siding was built, and the construction of the cement plant was started.  In June of 1889, the first shipment of cement was sent out.  The next year, a house for the plant manager was constructed in what would become the village of Marl City.

In February of 1891, the Bellefontaine Republican reported that the Buckeye Portland Cement Works had contracted to furnish 500 barrels of cement per day to be sent to Chicago for use in the construction of the buildings for the Columbian Exposition / World’s Fair.

That same year, George Bartholomew convinced local officials to let him pave an 8-foot test section of Main Street in Bellefontaine with his new patented formula of concrete. He had to give a $5000 performance bond to insure it would last five years.  After proving its durability to the horse and wagon traffic, Bartholomew was hired to pave the streets around the Logan County Courthouse with his concrete, including Court Avenue on the south side of the Courthouse, making it the first street entirely paved in concrete. A section of it was sent to Chicago to be exhibited at the World’s Fair, where it won first prize, competing against some of the largest producers of Europe.

The next year, building lots were being sold in Marl City and in 1893 the company provided ground for a school. By 1895 the company doubled in size, having 110 to 130 men working 12-hour shifts, and producing about 35,000 barrels of cement a year. Even more housing was in demand, and a plat map designating forty lots was submitted to the County Engineer.

On December 12, 1895, the 22,000-pound,16-foot-diameter flywheel of a steam engine that powered the entire plant exploded, causing eleven tons of iron to crash through the floor, ceiling and walls. The plant had to close for several weeks for repairs.  A major fire in July of 1897 destroyed the drying house and production again came to a halt. 

National and international competition took a toll on the Buckeye factory, and with a shift to rotary kilns the work force was reduced. The factory eventually closed in 1910.

In 1917, the American Refractory Co. leased the plant to process magnesite to manufacture fire brick for the metal industries and the war effort. It closed after World War I, and in 1932 the main cement company building was torn down.

In its prime, Marl City contained twenty-seven houses, a church and a school.  Many of the houses were relocated elsewhere in the area and the school is now being used as a home in Rushsylvania.

After more than 130 years of traffic the street remains open today, proving concrete is a durable paving material. Bellefontaine’s innovation led to a national network of paved roads crucial to America. Information submitted by Don Corwin and Beth Marshall.