Industry Closed after 41 Years
All that remains from a once large industry in Moore County are two 70' smoke stacks, one small smoke stack, an empty office building and a large metal building that is in the process of being torn down.
The industry provided employment for over 380 men, who supported 1800 family members. An announcement in late 1971 ended those jobs and closed the American Zinc plant which had been in operation for 41 years. When the announcement of the closing came, American Zinc had an annual payroll of $3 million.
The plant was actually built in 1936 by Illinois Zinc Co. with an investment of $300,00. The company operated the plant only a short time, closing it in 1938.
American Zinc of Illinois reopened the plant, January 1, 1940, and it became one of the largest horizontal retort furnace plants in the United States. The plant produced Prime Western, Select, Brass Special and intermediate grades of zinc slabs used in the galvanizing and brass industries.
Location of the plant was chosen because of the availability of fuel to run the furnaces. Ore was brought to Moore County by rail from Mexico. The plant initially provided zinc for the defense effort during World War II.
The process of smelting the raw ore separated the zinc, gold, silver, and cadmium. The plant produced 155 tons of zinc per day. After the process was complete, the remaining ore was piled in slag piles north of the plant. Cleanup of those slag piles remain a problem for the new owner.
Possible closure of the plant had been growing for several months when Texas Air Control Board became concerned about the amount of zinc and cadmium coming out of the smoke stacks. Hearings were held, exemptions were applied for, but the final decision was that the smoke was a danger to employees and to those who breathed the air.
The industry provided employment for over 380 men, who supported 1800 family members. An announcement in late 1971 ended those jobs and closed the American Zinc plant which had been in operation for 41 years. When the announcement of the closing came, American Zinc had an annual payroll of $3 million.
The plant was actually built in 1936 by Illinois Zinc Co. with an investment of $300,00. The company operated the plant only a short time, closing it in 1938.
American Zinc of Illinois reopened the plant, January 1, 1940, and it became one of the largest horizontal retort furnace plants in the United States. The plant produced Prime Western, Select, Brass Special and intermediate grades of zinc slabs used in the galvanizing and brass industries.
Location of the plant was chosen because of the availability of fuel to run the furnaces. Ore was brought to Moore County by rail from Mexico. The plant initially provided zinc for the defense effort during World War II.
The process of smelting the raw ore separated the zinc, gold, silver, and cadmium. The plant produced 155 tons of zinc per day. After the process was complete, the remaining ore was piled in slag piles north of the plant. Cleanup of those slag piles remain a problem for the new owner.
Possible closure of the plant had been growing for several months when Texas Air Control Board became concerned about the amount of zinc and cadmium coming out of the smoke stacks. Hearings were held, exemptions were applied for, but the final decision was that the smoke was a danger to employees and to those who breathed the air.
The hearings included testimony from workers, Dumas mayor, bankers and other citizens and key testimony from Dr. Carl A. Nau, an environmental medicine authority from the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Nau spent several days in Dumas visiting with doctors, veterinaries and testified he found "no evidence to indicate that could in anyway be traced to emissions from the zinc smelter." The final decision of the Air Control Board was that the plant could not be exempt from state air pollution rules.
There were other reasons that added to the decision. One was changes in smelting techniques which tended to out mode the Moore County plant. Profits from the plant were going down and that added to the final decision.
According to Gordon Bailey, general manager, "the plant would be phased out a step at a time as the supply of ore on hand is depleted.
At the same time, the decision was made to close the Dumas plant, American Zinc also closed mining interests at plants in Tennessee and Ohio.
After the final ore was smelted and the furnaces shut down, an auction date was scheduled for November 1971. A bid by a Fort Worth company was offered on the first day of the sale to purchase the entire site. The decision was made to sell the equipment, land, and buildings with a piece-by-piece auction.
In a story on the November 21, 1971 edition of the Moore County News-Press, Gordon Bailey reported, "The plant didn't bring quite what we had hoped for, but it was substantially more than what was bid for the entire facility the first day of bidding."
Over 50 years later, remains of the plant are still there. The office building is mostly like it has always been, the large furnace buildings are mostly torn down and those famous smoke stacks still remain. Those smoke stacks were once considered to be part of a Hollywood movie, "Hopper", in 1978.
Large piles of the slag still remain on the property. At one time, approximately one million cubic yards of the slag had been dumped adjacent to and across the South Palo Duro Creek which dumps into the Palo Duro Lake in Hansford County.
There were other reasons that added to the decision. One was changes in smelting techniques which tended to out mode the Moore County plant. Profits from the plant were going down and that added to the final decision.
According to Gordon Bailey, general manager, "the plant would be phased out a step at a time as the supply of ore on hand is depleted.
At the same time, the decision was made to close the Dumas plant, American Zinc also closed mining interests at plants in Tennessee and Ohio.
After the final ore was smelted and the furnaces shut down, an auction date was scheduled for November 1971. A bid by a Fort Worth company was offered on the first day of the sale to purchase the entire site. The decision was made to sell the equipment, land, and buildings with a piece-by-piece auction.
In a story on the November 21, 1971 edition of the Moore County News-Press, Gordon Bailey reported, "The plant didn't bring quite what we had hoped for, but it was substantially more than what was bid for the entire facility the first day of bidding."
Over 50 years later, remains of the plant are still there. The office building is mostly like it has always been, the large furnace buildings are mostly torn down and those famous smoke stacks still remain. Those smoke stacks were once considered to be part of a Hollywood movie, "Hopper", in 1978.
Large piles of the slag still remain on the property. At one time, approximately one million cubic yards of the slag had been dumped adjacent to and across the South Palo Duro Creek which dumps into the Palo Duro Lake in Hansford County.