Galesburg, IL: Maytag closed the refrigerator plant in 2004

A Maytag plant that had a peak employment of nearly 5000 in the early 1970 had its refrigerator production moved to Reynosa, Mexico."The former Appliance City site—the size of over 40 football fields packed together—is now mostly rubble and weeds." [TheAtalantic] "Back in 2004, we went to Reynosa, Mexico, to trace Maytag's ill-fated plan to make refrigerators. Maytag's idea was a bust, but the damage had already been done locally." [wqad]

Dave Bevard, former union president of the Machinists in Galesburg, Illinois, with the last refrigerator ever produced at the Maytag plant there. (Chad Broughton)
[This last refrigerator is at the Galesburg Antiques Mall.]

Note the refrigerator was a cheaper model with the freezer on top. More expensive models are still American made.

I assume the plant was located on this land scar. Note there is an industrial spur in the northeast corner so that it could use both the BN/CB&Q and the Santa Fe Railroads. I checked a 1938 aerial photo, but the plant was not yet built.

Satellite

Middle Amana, IA: Whirlpool/Maytag Refrigerator Plant

(Satellite (10 photos))

Whirlpool used to make refrigerators in Evansville, IN. But they closed that plant. My first office mate was from the Amana Colonies, so I was aware Amana had a Maytag plant. It appears Whirlpool has bought Maytag but their plants make products for both the Maytag and Whirlpool brands. I assume they also make refrigerators for the Sear's Kenmore brand because that was true back in Evansville. Like General Motors, a plant makes specific models that support all of the brands.

I remember my office mate saying the plant was the headquarters of Maytag. Judging from a photo of their sign, it is now the headquarters of Whirlpool.

Stephen Mally/The Gazette from Facebook
Whirlpool to hire 500 for Amana refrigerator plant
Demand driven by customers wanting bottom-mount refrigerators
David Jordan Whirlpool Corp is HQ in Benton Harbor, Michigan. The Crandic owns ex-Milwaukee Cedar Rapids to Yocum but the Iowa Interstate is the primary user.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the posting
Then maybe it is like Kraft-Heinz, they decided to keep headquarter jobs in both cities.

Apr 2025:

safe_image for Whirlpool Corp. announces Iowa's largest layoff of 2025 in Amana manufacturing facility
[When I accessed again to verify that I had cleaned up the URL properly, I hit a paywall! This is the first time I have seen a paywall of one. I did see "one third of the workforce" while editing the URL.]

Starting at 7:40 this video provides a history of the refrigeration business. 

18:26 video

When the company was sold in 1965 to Raytheon. This facility also manufactured RadaRanges starting in 1967. RadaRange was a microwave oven designed for home use.

@ 9:13

The RadarRange line was closed in the 1990s.

@ 9:53

Chicago, IL: Zenith Plant #1 at 6001 Dickens Ave. west of Austin Ave.

(Satellite, on the north side of Milwaukee's Galewood Yard)

It is a shame when you learn the location of a plant because it burned. In this case, it was a former Zenith plant.

Robert Hartley shared, CFD Photo from NBC-Chicago
The Zenith factory depicted in my novel, "North and Central", is on fire. http://www.nbcchicago.com/…/belmont-cragin-fire-441461533.h…
Martin Vlcek I used to work there in the late 70's as a computer programmer when it was still Zenith.
Truman Eddy after zenith moved nout a guy purchased the building for almost nothibg he had an auto parts reolacment whse, had quite a business. not sure what happened but he went out of business. he would take me on tours of the place, really creepy. up towards austin were the offices, he would rent those out to different people. some small time band would ren there at night and come and rehearse. the place was never full. his company took up to complete whse and he shipped from there.

I included the clump of trees on the left because that is probably where an industrial spur served the plant.

Satellite

1938 Aerial Photo ILHAP

The Milwaukee Galewood Yard that is south of the plant.

MadeInChciagoMuseum
Zenith Plant #1 at 6001 W. Dickens Ave., as seen on a 1937 Curt Teich postcard.
Alonso Zaragoza posted info from this source without attribution.
And it got shared
Francis O'Connor: Irene Gazdziak that’s a lot of jobs that supported Austin neighborhood

Tom McDonald posted two images with the comment:

The Zenith Radio Corporation, originally founded in 1918 as Chicago Radio Laboratory by Karl Hassel and Ralph H.G. Mathews, began in a modest setting on a kitchen table before evolving into a major American electronics manufacturer. Incorporated in 1923 with the backing of Eugene F. McDonald, Jr., Zenith quickly rose to prominence, pioneering innovations like the first portable radio in 1924 and transitioning into television production after World War II. By the mid-20th century, its Chicago operations had expanded significantly, with Plant #1 at 6001 West Dickens Avenue becoming a cornerstone of its success. Employing 2,500 workers in its heyday during the 1960s, this sprawling four-block facility produced radios, televisions, and hi-fi stereophonic phonographs, embodying Zenith’s slogan, “The quality goes in before the name goes on.” The factory, once a symbol of American industrial might and ingenuity, thrived as Zenith led the market in black-and-white TVs and later innovated with color television technology.

However, the rise of international competition in the 1970s and 1980s eroded Zenith’s dominance, leading to financial struggles and a shift in operations. The Chicago factory on Dickens Avenue, which had also served as the company’s headquarters, closed its doors in 1998 as Zenith filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Subsequently acquired by South Korea’s LG Electronics in 1999, the American manufacturing legacy of Zenith faded, leaving the once-bustling Plant #1 abandoned. A devastating fire in 2017 further ravaged the deteriorating structure, reducing it to a hollowed-out shell that stands today as a crumbling relic of a bygone era. Now an eyesore in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, the site remains polluted and challenging to redevelop, haunted by memories of its vibrant past and the thousands of workers who once brought its assembly lines to life.

Anyone used to work here ? 

Instagram @tmcd.chi

Rich Wickersty: I ran a recording studio out of that building from 1998 thru 2012, there were numerous studios there in the early 2000’s but it was shut down when the building owners had a transformer blow and couldn’t afford to replace it so they had no more electricity.

Coincidentally I purchased a B&W Zenith TV in the 70’s when I lived out east and was hooking it up in the studio as a security monitor when I noticed it was manufactured here according to its label.

Don Minnoch: Rich Wickersty I also had a rehearsal practice studio for my band there in early 90’s…there were quite a few

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Street View

The smokestack indicates the railroad spur probably provided coal cars for a power plant. Obviously, this end of the plant was shipping and receiving. I wonder if the truck docks were a remodeling and they originally used to use boxcars on the railroad spur.

Street View

Chuck Edmonson posted four photos with the comment:

THE QUALITY GOES IN BEFORE THE NAME GOES ON

One of Chicago's home grown electronic giants, Zenith became a household name in radios in the early 1930s, as well as pioneering in the broadcast of radio and early television.

 As television really came into its own in the 1950s, Chicago's Zenith Corp. would expand with a new 300,000 square foot facility at 5800 W Dickens [RED ALERT: these photos are of Plant #1 at 6001 Dickens rather than of Plant #2 at 5801 Dickens.] in 1960 in the Belmont Craigin neighborhood. By the 1970s they had close to 12,000 employees in the Chicago area.

 As television production shifted overseas beginning in the mid 1980s, Zenith did likewise until being purchase by Korean based LG in 1994.

 The Dickens plant would be shuttered in 1998 and over the years various parts have been leased out to a variety of industrial concerns.

 Although it would now appear that the 65 year old plant is about to be demolished, about a third of the old building will be redeveloped into a shared commercial kitchen space, partially financed through a $4M loan from J P Morgan Chase.

 Ironically the old logo of Zenith is still faintly visible on the old water tower.

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A photo taken by Harold A. Driscoll in 1998 as part of a set of photos of a circus train parked in Galewood Yard shows the plant still has a water tower with the name Zenith on it.

Keven Richard posted fifteen photos of an "abandoned Zenith factory on Chicago's NE side."

A 2:46 video about this plant (source)

Leo Di Domenico Jr: The other plant is south of plant #1 across the rail yard connected by a tunnel. There was a small gauge rail road that meandered between both facilities connected by that tunnel.

Kathy Lunn Edison: Leo Di Domenico Jr I worked at Zenith mid 60's in cost estimating dept....my dad did also in 50's and 60's and I met my husband there....walked the tunnel a number of times to deliver things to the engineers in plant 1..also the company store was in plant 1...bought our first tv there when we got married....good memories!!

Duane R. Pecci: Leo Di Domenico Jr There was an tunnel between the Dickinson and Austin plants with a tow motor that would transport components back and forth.

Aaron Smith: Worked for Zenith in the late 90s at the Glenview HQ (LG already owned them by then). I don't think they'd changed any of the fixtures/carpeting/desks, etc. since the building opened in 1976.

Duane R. Pecci: I was an Industrial Engineer for Zenith at Plant #1 and later at Plant #6 Austin Avenue and #2 Kostner Avenue. So many great memories as my first job out of college in 1967.

Gordon Reiher: Almost everyone in my neighborhood worked there, unless they worked at Western Electric.

Kendallville, IN: City Water Works and Light Plant

(Satellite?)

Rural American History Captured posted
City water Works and Light Plant.
Kendallville, IN
PHCS

I labelled this energyGas as well as energyElectric because, if the photo is old enough, the "Light Plant" is manufacturing gas from coal rather than generating electricity. But given the smokestack, I assume this is an electric plant. With the advent of higher transmission voltages, towns no longer have their own generating plant. But they still have their own water works.

The oldest aerial photo I could find was 1951. I was hoping to still see the scar of an industrial spur that would have delivered coal to this plant. But I saw no trace of an industrial spur. But there was vacant land that indicated a railroad spur was possible.

I was raised in Fort Wayne, IN, and our Mom would take us to Kendallville for two reasons --- our dentist and to swim on the east side of Bixler Lake. I remember seeing the NYC trains pass by along the north side of the lake while we were swimming. (Later, we learned there was an ice cream factory in Kendallville.)

Decatur, IN: Erie Concrete Water Tower Base

(Satellite, Street View)

Josh Lemier posted

Here in this awesome photo we see Erie Lackawanna 2460 marching a manifest through Decatur, Indiana. Date Unknown.

Photo Credit To John Fuller.
Ron Carlson What could a pair of second-gen diesels reliably haul, 40 to 50 cars?Ken Miller 100 plus in the right conditions

Own Fisback commented on the above posting
 I'm amazed the water tower support is still there. Saw it back in November for the first time

Seneca Falls, NY: NYC Depot and Freight House

If you are here because of "Chesterton, IN: NYC Water Tower," then go to there.

Depot: (Satellite)

Freight House: (Satellite)

Mtnclimberjoe Rail Photography posted

A trio of Finger Lakes Railway GP38-2's lead the eastbound leg of the GS-2 as it rolls through the town of Seneca Falls, New York as a few snow flurries fall. On the right is the former New York Central freight house, now home to a dentist office.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtnclimberjoe50/54303582459

====Info====

1/19/2025

FGLK Auburn Road

Seneca Falls, NY

FGLK GS-2 (Local; Geneva, NY to Solvay, NY Turn)

FGLK 2003 GP38-2 Ex. GMTX 2104, EMDX 198 GP40, SOO 2027, MILW 2027, MILW 154 Blt. 1967

FGLK 2001 GP38-2 Ex. GMTX 2197, HLCX 3838, INRD 3838, INRD 3808, NS 5389, CR 8270 Blt. 1979

FGLK 2004 GP38-2 Ex. GMTX 2227, EMDX 792, CR 7992, PC 7992 Blt. 1972

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
Thanks for framing the photo with an extant railroad building. But the dentist office is out-of-frame to the left (West), https://maps.app.goo.gl/z6QiqE6kWAiFkPiU7. I think the building in the photo was the depot.

Memphis, TN: CN/IC Harrison/Johnston/Nonconnah Rail Yard

(Satellite)

Their Walker Street Shops were closer to downtown.
See the IC Coaling Tower and Roundhouse post for additional views of the yard. The following photo that has the coaling tower is also worthy of inclusion in the railyard notes.

Robert Tomb posted, cropped

ICRR - Nonconnah Yard, looking east toward A Yard from the hump yard tower. This was taken after the hump was cut down, probably late 1940's or early 1950's. From my collection, photographer unknown.

[Unfortunately, I'm having to guess that Nonconnah was another name for the IC yard in Memphis.]

Joe Marascalco Thanks for sharing, do you remember how those RIP tracks were numbered?

Robert Tomb IIRC, they were numbered from right to left, Rip1 thru Rip 3, from the coal chute.

Jerry Younger In the big shop it was 41 thru 50, with no 49 track .. If my memory serves me correctly ..51 & 52 were up on the hill & used for clean out ( wash out ) tracks for hopper cars ...

Henry R. Pleasants Sr. 31 to the hump!

Judging by the location of the coaling tower, this view is in the opposite direction of the above view.

Illinois Central/Gulf Mobile & Ohio/Illinois Central Gulf Memories. posted
Nonconnah yard (Now Harrison yard) in Memphis. The photo says 1968 but the steam switcher says it must have been taken much earlier than that.

Samuel Peregoy: I went to work for the ICRR in 1972. There were not any kerosene switch indicators on the switches and different A Yard building. Probably this picture is from the ‘30’s to maybe the mid ‘50’s. I remember back in the early 60's seeing all of the steam locomotives stored on the two Trash Tracks that parallel Weaver Road on west end of C Yard.

Clarence Jackson: Picture was probably taken In the 40’s.

Randall James: Johnston yard, named for IC's best president, Wayne A Johnston 👍 will always call it Johnston yard, Hunter Harrison pushed for P.S.R. (Precision scheduled railroading) & closing down many hump yards, eliminating jobs, was a terrible IC/CN/CSX RR president.

Jim Fleming: It will always be Johnston Yard.

Ryan Robinson posted two photos with the comment: "Old Illinois Central maps of Johnston Yard in Memphis. Copied out of an old map book I had access to a while back. Enjoy!"

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Below I rotated them and put the west side first. It sacrifices resolution so that it is easier to correlate with a current satellite view.

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Satellite

Below is a satellite image using the same scale that I used to compare the size of some BNSF yards.

5/8 inch = 2000 ft

Update:

Steve Forrest posted
The "Memphis Big Boy" derrick based out of Johnston Yard in Memphis back in Oct 1973. Kodachrome by Steve Forrest.
Kenny Hearn I remember that being in the truck shop a lot when I worked there.
[I wondered if they stored that in a building because that is the best preserved ACI marking that I have seen so far..]