Croswell, MI: 1902 Michigan/Sanilac Sugar Company

(Satellite)

Croswell also has the Pioneer Sugar factory;

Michigan Sugar Company posted 12 photos with the comment:

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Today, we are going back to 1902 and the construction and early days of operation of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's factory in Croswell. This factory, of course, became part of Michigan Sugar Company in 1906 when the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company, along with five other sugar companies, joined forces to form the new entity.

The factory was equipped with a Steffens process and pulp dryer and had an original capacity to slice 600 tons of sugarbeets per day. Today, the factory can slice more than 5,000 tons per day.

We hope you enjoy this sweet trip down memory lane.

Brad Lewis: Michigan has the oldest sugar refinery in the country is in Caro Michigan 1886 it is built . I helped in the huge expansion project at the Monitor sugar refinery in bay city Michigan in 1986 making it the largest sugar refinery east of the Mississippi River.

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Here is a view of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's factory, with the boiler house in the foreground, taken in 1902 shortly after the factory became operational.

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A crew of iron workers and painters pose for this 1902 photo of the southwest corner of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company in Croswell. At the time, the filter press frames were being hoisted to the fifth floor of the building.

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Here is a 1902 view of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company from the west showing the main building, lime house, and lime kilns partially completed.

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Here is a look at the centrifugal area of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's Croswell factory taken in 1902.

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Here is a look at the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's 14 boilers with Murphy stokers used to power the company's Croswell factory after startup on Oct. 15, 1902.

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Here is a look at the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's Croswell factory diffusion battery that shows the chip carrier and hydraulic belt shifter arrangement as it was on Oct. 1, 1902.

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Looking east on the fifth floor of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's Croswell factory, you can see the factory's evaporators on the right, crystalizers at left, and the exhaust relief valve in the foreground. This photo was taken shortly after the start of operations in 1902.

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On Oct. 12, 1902, the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company tested the sugar end engine, shown here, at its factory in Croswell. The engine passed the test that day.

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Here is a view of workers posed on the west side of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's Croswell factory during construction in 1902. Visible inside the building are the factory's coolers and pulp press.

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Looking east, here is a view of the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's Croswell factory while under construction in 1902. At left, you can see the hoist system that was used to place the factory's crystalizers.

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Taken in 1902, this photo shows a crew of carpenters working to construct the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's beet storage sheds in Croswell. During construction, materials were hauled up the ramp and then hoisted to the proper place for installation.

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Taken on Nov. 1, 1902, this photo shows the Sanilac Sugar Refining Company's completed beet storage shed in Croswell. During harvest, sugarbeets would have been hauled by horse-drawn wagons up the ramp into the shed.

MichiganSugar

Street View, Nov 2016

Street View, Aug 2018

Aug 21, 2024: Michigan Sugar Company posted four photos with the comment:

MICHIGAN SUGAR'S 2024 CAMPAIGN IS UNDERWAY: At around 9:15 a.m. today, the first load of sugarbeets went into the hopper at Michigan Sugar Company’s factory in Croswell and at around 11:30 a.m. the first beets were sliced with Factory Superintendent Mike Bjorgan showing off a handful of the first cossettes. 

This followed startup earlier in the day at Michigan Sugar’s Caro factory. 

The company’s factories in Bay City and Sebewaing are expected to begin slicing later today. 

We wish all our employees a safe and prosperous campaign!

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Michigan Sugar Company comment on another post
First sugarbeets in the hopper at Michigan Sugar’s Sebewaing factory at around 6:10 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2024.

0:59 video
Get a bird’s eye view of the 2024 sugarbeet harvest at Stoutenburg Farms in Sandusky. Huge thanks to Michigan Sugar Co-op Board Director Clint Stoutenburg for sending this in!

0:59 video

Carrie Hannewald Schray: Why do they get dumped on the ground initially after harvesting to then being put in trucks to haul away? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to just put in the hauling trucks and skip the ground?

Gentner-Bischer Farms: Carrie Hannewald Schray benefits form doing it this way are the trucks can stay on the road when it’s muddy, less compaction on the field soils and less mud on the roads. Also the machine that loads them into the trucks cleans the beets again removing dirt and leaves. Another benefit if they can harvest with a few people and then haul at a later time. It almost becomes 2 operations (harvesting and hauling). We used to load the trucks right from the harvester but it took many truck drivers just to keep the harvesters moving.