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Dow Texas Operations Moments
While a sitting U.S. President has never visited Dow Texas Operations, a couple of future ones have been to the site. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson came to Plant A for the startup of a saltwater conversion plant in 1961. George W. Bush toured the site when he was the governor of Texas. President John F. Kennedy never visited Dow's Freeport complex, but he did "start up" the saltwater conversion plant from the White House in 1961 by pushing a button at his desk. More MagnesiumAfter the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Government asked Dow to step up its magnesium production, so a second magnesium plant was constructed north of Plant A in nearby Velasco. The area was named Plant B and the first magnesium ingot was poured June 26, 1942. One of the reasons Dow chose to build farther inland was for protection against the possibility of a U-boat attack. For the BirdsIn 1968, 38 black skimmers flew into Plant A and landed in an oyster shell parking lot. Then they just made themselves at home. Thanks to the vision and passion of some Dow employees, the former parking lot was turned into a permanent nesting ground for the birds. Since 1984, Dow has hosted an open house to give visitors an opportunity to view the largest skimmer nesting ground inside an industrial complex. In 2005, about 1,000 birds came to the site. Velasco Says NoIn the early 1940s, the housing market in Freeport was not growing at the same rate Dow was building plants in the area, so many employees and construction workers were forced to make due by living in tents or even their cars. To help alleviate this problem, Dow approached Velasco, a village north of Freeport, about developing close to 500 acres. Dow offered to build about 1,200 homes and put in streets and utilities at no cost to the village. Velasco leaders turned down the offer, feeling that Dow was a wartime company and would fold up and move back to Michigan after World War II ended. They also didn't want trucks tearing up their streets, so Dow built Lake Jackson in 1942. The cities of Freeport and Velasco merged in 1957. FirstsThe first plants to begin operations at Dow's Freeport site were Power 1 and Chlorine 1 in late 1940. In 1941, the magnesium plant became the first at the site to make a product to be sold externally. Site LeadersDow's site in Freeport, Texas was established in 1940. Since then it has had 14 leaders. A.P. "Dutch" Beutel (1940-61) Property ValueAfter being forced to build a new city to house its employees in the early 1940s, Dow bought 6,500 acres of heavily-wooded bottomlands northwest of its operations for $400,000. The company also purchased thousands of acres of adjacent property. In the more than 65 years since then, Dow has donated a lot of the land to area organizations. The rest was sold or is still owned by the company. The following is a partial list of the donations: Brazosport Hospital - 25 acres and $8.5 million Thanks/CreditsDow Texas Operations would like to thank The Lake Jackson Historical Museum and its volunteers for their assistance in gathering photos and information. Also, the following books were excellent guides through the history of Dow in Texas and provided a wealth of source material for this issue. Brandt, E.N. Growth Company. East Lansing: Michigan State |
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