According to Lost Illinois Manufacturing, this plant had 1200 workers and made small electric motors. In a PM with Steve O'Conner, the plant closed in 2015. The plant started in 1946. Since these small motors were used in applications like appliances, that would indicate that the GE plants in Fort Wayne, IN were closed in favor of this new plant in DeKalb. (GE in Fort Wayne is on the todo list, but don't hold your breath. It used to have five plants. It is now gone.)
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| Street View |
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| Dave Kuntz posted Seen many times before here but always loved. The Peace Road tracks. Dan Davis Precious piece of the Gary line. I heard this ge plant was used to build rudimentary radio controlled drones during WW2 and bombers would fly them out of the DeKalb airport which explains the unusually long runway for such a small airport. Stephen Karlson Yes, before Peace Road went in, there was a ramp between the cruise missile factory and the airfield for the War Department to take delivery. At least one of the cruise missiles delivered a payload onto the Japanese naval base at Rabaul. |
More information about the WWII role this factory building played.
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| Martin O'Connor posted Peace Road at Pleasant St in DeKalb, c1984 GE plant (Former Interstate Aircraft WWII drone factory) is out of frame to the left of the abandoned Gary Line tracks. Light colored concrete pad where the four high-wings are parked in center of photo is where the large DKB municipal hangar once stood. |
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