Newtown Creek, an industrial waterway in New York City, was a center for production of materials before the Civil War. Most of the production there involved the refining of raw materials or natural products; refined products included sugar, fertilizers, hide glue, glass, liquor, and hardwood dyes. Following the Civil War, the production at Newtown Creek increasingly relied on chemical reagents. In the early 1870s, William Nichols acquired and reorganized the Laurel Hill Chemical Company. Sulfuric acid would be the principal product of the new Nichols Chemical Company. The company’s production and economic significance grew steadily after J. B. F. Herreshoff joined the company. Francis Herreshoff had studied of chemistry at Brown University and taught there before moving to New York, where he sought employment in industry. Nichols hired Herreshoff in 1876 when both men were roughly 25 years of age. Their work together, businessman trained in chemistry and chemical engineer with limited experience, continued for 40 years. Herreshoff’s contributions to the fortunes of the Nichols Company and to the advancement of country’s sophistication in chemical technology included methods for production of concentrated sulfuric acid, for production of sulfuric acid from pyrite ores, and for electrolytic production of high purity copper metal. This talk concerns J. B. F. Herreshoff’s technologies relating to the production of pure copper and concentrated sulfuric acid.<br/>

J.B.F. Herreshoff and the expansion of the chemicals industry in early 20<sup>th</sup> century New York

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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J.B.F. Herreshoff and the expansion of the chemicals industry in early 20th century New York

J.B.F. Herreshoff and the expansion of the chemicals industry in early 20^th century New York