Newark has its share of bygone industries

April 15 was a sad day for the Newark-Heath community. It was announced that the Meritor plant would be closing. This is not the first time this community has had to endure this type of blow.

The following list highlights, but is not limited to, the many Newark industries that have gone by the wayside.

In the north end was the E. T. Rugg Co., a manufacturer of lawn mowers. On West Main Street, there was Pharis Tire and Rubber Co.; they were said to have not kept up with progress.

Pure Oil, also known as Heath Refinery, closed probably because it was too small. Burke Golf Co. suffered the same fate. Heisey closed because of foreign completion and high production costs.

Roper (Newark Stove) was once the largest producer of stoves in the world. They later claimed that they were the largest manufacturer of lawn mowers. In February 1969, office workers went picketing. There were problems off and on after the initial strike, and in the mid-1970s, Roper moved production out of state.

Meritor has been slowly dying for several years, and only the top management knows why. Was it because the building was too old? Was it because they no longer made military axles? Or was it because they could make the same axle cheaper somewhere else?

All of those things could easily have played a part, but one reason was not lack of workmanship pride.

When a few men came from Detroit to open the Heath plant in 1951, there was a motto that was hammered into your head: quality, quality, quality. There was pride in every axle that left the building.

I was employed there for forty years; it was my plant, Rockwell, the Rock.

Jerry Satterfield is a lifelong Newark resident, retired from Rockwell, and volunteers for the Licking County Historical Society.

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