HAMMOND MEATS STOCKYARD LOCATION ICE HARVESTING

EMPLOYEES

MEAT PACKING FIRE

 

 

 

G.H. Hammond Meat Packing Company
Hammond, Indiana
1869 -1901

Forty-three refrigerated cars loaded with ice from Wolf Lake and dressed meats from the
G.H. Hammond Meat Packing Company in north Hammond are headed east to New York and Boston.

 

The Boston Daily Advertiser (April 1869) took notice of the first refrigerated shipment of beef and wrote:

"A refrigerator car... arrived in this city yesterday morning (Wednesday) laden with 16,000 pounds of beef placed on board at Detroit on Wednesday of last week. This car was in charge of Mr. George H. Hammond on its passage. The ice is placed in narrow chambers at each side of the car, opening only at the top from outside, and does not, therefore, come in contact with the meat or the air in the car which is kept cold and dry. The meat was in better condition than that received directly from our home markets."

Source: Boston Daily Advertiser, April 22, 1869

 

 

  "The slaughter house was opened about 1869, George H. Hammond of Detroit with others forming a company. At first no day of rest was observed, work at the slaughter house going on seven days in the week; but since the village that soon commenced has grown into a town and city and schools and Sunday-schools and churches have been organized and carried on successfully, Sabbath work has ceased. The growth for some time was not rapid, but in a few years quite a town came into existence. At the slaughter house some three thousand head of cattle are butchered in a week, the beef being sent to New England and to Europe. Some other industries have sprung, up. There are now three churches, one Catholic, one German Lutheran, and one Methodist Episcopal. The dwelling of M. M. Towle, with its green House and fine lawn, is the most showy and. imposing private edifice in the city. And next are the dwelling houses of T. Hammond, of Superintendent Fogg, and of T. Dunk. The new store room of M. M. Towle is ninety-four feet by seventy-five. The post-office has four hundred and three boxes.
At the lumber yard wharf, where schooners unload, having come up the river from South Chicago, eleven vessels of considerable size have been seen at one time. A large distillery has been erected near the lumber yard, and near it a large cattle barn accommodating nine hundred head of cattle. Just south of the draw-bridge is the Hammond skating rink, eighty feet by one hundred and forty on the outside. These are some of the particulars that show what has been the growth of this place from a wilderness to a city."
 
 

Source: Lake County, Indiana, 1884 : an account of the semi-centennial celebration of Lake County, September 3 and 4, with historical papers and other interesting records prepared for this volume
Authors: T H B; E H Woodard; Tuthill King; Charles W Cathcart
City of Publication: Crown Point, Ind.
Publisher: Printed at the Lake County Star Office
Date: 1884

 

 
  The G. H. Hammond Packing Company, an institution which is the outgrowth of the beginning made by Mr. Towle, to-day has buildings which cover nearly live acres of ground including ice houses, etc. and furnishes employment to over five hundred men. Five to six hundred cattle are slaughtered here daily, while the full capacity of the houses is double these figures. The monthly expenses for stock reach the sum of $1,350,000, while their monthly pay roll amounts to over $20,000. The company is engaged almost exclusively in what is known as the dressed beef traffic. employing a great number of refrigerator cars to transport their meats to Eastern markets. Connected with the packing houses. and operated by the same company, is an extensive oleo margarine oil factory. which turns out daily forty tierces of oil. The G. H. Hammond Packing Company is incorporated under the laws of the State of Michigan. with headquarters at Detroit. The present officers of the company are: George H. Hammond, president; Andrew Comstock, vice-president, and J. D. Standish, secretary and treasurer. The stockholders are M. M. Towle, G. H. Hammond and Andrew Comstock; the paid up capital of the company is $1,500,000.  
 

History of Hammond, IN/IL.
From: History of Cook County, Illinois
By: A. T. Andreas
Published by: A. T. Andreas, Publisher Chicago, 1884

 

 

 
Advertising Cards used to promote Hammond Meat Packing Company

     
     
       
         
     

 
 

  

 

  HAMMOND MEATS STOCKYARD LOCATION ICE HARVESTING

EMPLOYEES

MEAT PACKING FIRE