Although few people have any knowledge of this Marion company anymore, the American Creosote Company, also known as American Creosoting Co., appears to have thrived in Marion for about five decades. The company preserved railroad ties with creosote, a thriving business in the day when rail was still king. According to an article published in the Carbondale Egyptian Press in February of 1907, a Mr. E.P. Garrett who, for the previous three years, had been superintendent of the Ayer & Lord Tie Co. of that city had taken a similar position with American Creosote in Marion. The Marion plant was said to have been under construction and was expected to be completed and operating in several months, probably by the middle of summer.

It was also noted that in addition to the Marion plant that the company also then had plants at Kansas City, Missouri; Hugo, Oklahoma and Springfield, Missouri and was owned by the Frisco railway system. The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Company, commonly called the Frisco System, was a major railroad of the time, serving nine states. The old Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad Co. that laid the north-south tracks running through Marion, which are currently still operated by the Missouri-Pacific line, was part of the Frisco system.

In 1910, W.J. Caplinger, a local carpenter, was very busy here in Marion having a contract with the American Creosoting Company, building small three room houses, three large residences and an office building.

The Marion plant was located along the west side of the old C & EI tracks just south of Marion past Crab Orchard Creek where the Short Brothers Asphalt plant is now located. A booklet promoting Marion business in 1913 listed the American Creosote Plant as the largest plant of its kind in Illinois and noted the investment of $1,500,000 in the plant which employed many men.

This was confirmed in a Dun Merchant rating dated 1914, indicating that American Creosote Co. was a Louisville branch with an A1 credit rating of over $1,000,000.

In the 1800’s through the turn of the century, literally thousands of miles of new and replacement track were laid for the burgeoning industry. The creosoting process which only began at the turn of the century gave longevity to miles of track saving the railroads millions in replacement costs, making the business very lucrative in its time. Previously, railroads like the Burlington system were soaking its ties in a solution of zinc chloride. This new process allowed the use of cheaper and more available wood to be used. The business was fed by tie manufacturing plants that had sprung up in Williamson County and explains the loss of countless acres of virgin area forest. One such tie plant was located in Creal Springs, Illinois.

In November of 1950, an obituary was found covering the death of Robert F. Simmons, then the manager of the plant, who suffered a fatal heart attack while at Bloomington, Indiana doing business for the company. Simmons was replaced by Delmar Keller who had started working for the company in the 1930’s.  Keller and his secretary Louis Browder were the last two known employees of the business. The plant closed in December 1958.

According to Delmar Keller’s descendant, Phillip Keller, the plant processed railroad ties, telephone and power poles. The unprocessed pieces were unloaded by handed and were loaded onto “U” shaped trams on railroad tracks. After the pieces were treated, they would be allowed to cure for a period of time and then the trams were used to load the finished items back onto railroad cars. 

Other than the citizens mentioned in the text above, I found a couple of other Marion citizens who worked at the plant prior to 1920. They were Israel Jones, Henry Gardner, father of the teacher Russell Duncan and James Herman Carmichael, who worked as a timbering and treating inspector prior to WWI.

Marion may have dodged a bullet on this plant because at least two of the old American Creosote Company plants created and left behind environmental hazards. There were at least two EPA Superfund cleanups that have been performed on old company sites in Pensacola, Florida and Winnfield, Louisiana.

Back to the top

(Egyptian Free Press, 1907; Marion, Illinois, Opportunity City, 1913; Dun Merchant Ratings, 1914; Southern Illinoisan, Nov. 1950; Williamson County in the World War, 1919; compiled by Sam Lattuca on 03/02/2014)