Plant One Complex Photos   Little Known Plant Photos  The Acre Plant Photos  Battery Plant Photos   Remote SLI Plant Photos   New Brunswick, NJ Demolition Photos
Plant Photos
Early Anderson and Remote WWII Plants
Artists renditions of early buildings, the original Plants 2, 3, 5, 7, 11 and Yellow Springs, and Kings Mills Plants from WWII

Artist's rendition of the original Remy Brothers 14 by 20 foot shack at 12th and Meridian in Anderson, IN.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson / Madison County Historical Society.

This 1895 Sanborn Map shows 12th and Meridian in Anderson.  Note the small structure in red behind the photo gallery on the south west corner of the intersection.  Brian Mulcahy has scaled this and found it to be about 14 by 20 feet.  This is probably the location of the shed at this intersection that the Remy Brothers started what later became a $1.8 billion Division of GM.  This is now a small park in Anderson.

This artist's drawing shows the Remy Electric Company during the period from 1901-1908.  The location has been described as being at Anderson location Second and Sherman in the 1944 Delco-Remy History- Staff Department Functions, Third and Sherman in The Delco-Remy Story 1986-1999 and then First and Sherman in Delco-Remy History, 1965 which is an updated version of the 1944 DR History.   In the 1927 Delco-Remy Brochure "A Trip through Delco-Remy Plants" states that in 1899 the operation moved to Second and Hendricks.   Photo from The Delco-Remy History 1965.

The First Plant Three
There were four different Plant 3's in DR History.

This is in Muncie on SR 32 (Kilgore Ave) at the intersection of South Perkins Street and is currently owned by the Muncie School System.  The plant was built in the 1923 time frame for the development and production of electrical lights for Harvester Tractors.  When the ARVAC building sent motor production to Plant 6 it appears the operation and Plant Number 3 shifted to that location and this was closed.  While there is nothing on this in any of the DR written histories, Everett Vinson, father of Ted, worked at this plant so we have verification it was in use by Remy. 

The First Plant Two and Second Plant Three

These photos come from the August, 1924 edition of the Remy Clan and describes the a Plant Two that from the photos place it at the complex at 25th and Arrow that was located at the former Arvac plant.  When the Muncie Plant 3 closed the number was moved to this location.  Plant Two was then used for the plant constructed at the Columbus Complex.

Many will recognize these two buildings labeled as Plant/Plant 3 as being what later became Guide Lamp plants on 25th Street at the railroad tracks and were the former American Rotary Valve (Arvac) plants that DR purchased in 1923 for the production of starting motors.  Later headlights were produced here in 1928 after GM/DR purchased the Guide Corporation in Cleveland, OH.  In 1929 the lighting portion of DR became its own GM division, Guide Lamp.  These buildings survived until 2009 when GM leveled the entire complex west of Pendleton Avenue.  Anderson Herald Photo via Brian Mulcahy.

This is what the interior of the west building looked like when ARVAC had the facility between 1914 and 1923.  Remy Electric may have had an aluminum foundry in this plant during its ownership of it. This would be the plant closest to the photographer in the photo above. Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

This April 1927 edition of the Clan shows the Plant 3 at 25th and Arrow, the original Plant 5, along with Plants 1,4 and 6 with a drawing of Plant Two that was being constructed on Columbus Ave and would open in July.  It does not refer to Plant 7 in Dayton which had been part of Remy since 1926.  It is shown below in a May 1927 publication.

From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927.

Here is another photo of the plant in 1930 after it became Guide Division.  The two structures shown were originally built by the Jenny Electric Company in 1908 when the Anderson Chamber of Commerce gave Jenny $500 and 13 acres to build its factories on.  When it went out of business in 1914 the American Rotary Valve Company bought the property and operated it until 1923 when it went out of business.  Then Remy Electric purchased it.

The Third Plant Three

There is no known photo of the second DR Plant 3 which was in Indianapolis and appears to be the Bu-Nite Piston Company purchased in 1929. With the operation at Arrow and 25th Streets being transferred to the new Guide Division in January of 1929 this would free up the Plant 3 number to be assigned to another location.  This is from the April 1929 Delco-Remy Phone Book showing that it was a foundry.  The complete 1929 phone book can be viewed at The Moments in Time page.
 

The First Plant 5 and Second Plant 7 - Anderson, IN

From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927. Dept 137 was later at the location one sees in the photo above.  Behind it would have been the foundry.  Both the Plant 5 Foundry and the Box Plant, numbered Plant 7 which was the remaining sections to the south of the foundry, coexisted after the foundry was built until a fire on December 13, 1932 took down the remaining part of Plant 7.

This is what the original DR Plant Five looked like when it was owned by Indiana Silo and Tractor Company.  Farm Tractors were built in this facility from 1918-1924.  Remy Electric would have purchased it after 1924.  Photo courtesy of Brian Mulcahy.

This artist's rendering from the 1933 Klaxon Horn Service Manual (See Service Manuals for the complete document) show Plant 7 Box Shop to the right or north of the Plant 5 Foundry.  Apparently it was too late to stop the printing of the service manual for Jan 1, 1933 when the Box Shop burned in December of 1932. 

Here is a postcard showing the box plant, Plant 7 at the time.  Note the distinctive design and north-south orientation.  Also picture in this postcard is Washington Elementary School which burned on August 29, 1931

This is all that is left in December, 1932 of the remaining section of the box plant north of the Foundry after it burned on the 13th.  One is looking west from Noble Street and the Indiana Gas tanks are in the background.  An earlier fire in April of 1928 destroyed the south section of the box plant.  Photo courtesy of Ted Vinson.

The First Plant 7 - Dayton, OH

This structure still exists in Dayton and is just south of the Fifth Third Stadium.  After it was was no longer DR Plant 7 it became the original plant for Delco Products after it separated from DR in 1929.  This plant in Dayton is why there are DR tags on distributors, motors and generators in the RE Olds Museum in Lansing, MI and the Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum in Auburn, IN that have both Anderson and Dayton listed as locations.  See our Museum Page for photos.  From "A Trip Through Delco-Remy Plants" dated May 15, 1927.

The original  DR Plant 7 as it still stands in downtown Dayton, OH in 2011.

The First Plant 11, Bedford Foundry - Bedford, IN

This facility was numbered Plant 11 according to an article in January 26, 1945 issue of "The Clan". This was acquired and used during WWII to produce aluminum castings for the Allison aircraft engine.  From Our War Job. 

Antioch Foundry - Yellow Springs, OH

The last section of this article is missing one can understand DR's use for this facility to aid production of engine castings for the US Army Air Force.  It should be noted that this article, dated May 2, 1941 was seven month before Pearl Harbor.  Anderson Bulletin article from the Anderson Public Library Collection.

This was also acquired and used during WWII to produce aluminum castings for the Allison aircraft engine.  This foundry also had some state of the art technology.  This foundry was sold off after WWII and still exists.  See the Plant History and Links page to learn more.  From Our War Job.

This is a better photo provided courtesy of the Morris Bean and Company of the Antioch Foundry than the one above from "Our War Job".  Note the two young trees.  There is the one to the left of the flag pole, and the one in the middle of the photo.  Note the dirt road and driveway. 

This photo was taken in 2016 from almost the same location as the one above.  The building is still there and is now the Antioch Theatre.  The small tree in the right corner of the original photo has grown up and now overshadows the building.  The tree that was in the center of the photo is to the left of the driveway.  Both the road and driveway are now paved.  Author's photo added 8-20-2017.

For more information on the Antioch Foundry as part of DR during WWII, go to my World War Two Products and Applications page.

Kings Mills - Kings Mills, OH

On April 28, 1944 it was announced that the US Navy had taken control of the former Kings Mills Army Ordnance plant in Kings Mills, OH, and that Delco-Remy would build cranking motors for diesel powered landing craft.  At the end of the war the plant had in just a year's time had produced 64,000 naval cranking motors and 375,000 switches.  This was done with a work force of 900 employees.  From Our War Job.

This photo shows the workers at Kings Mills on lunch break.  Photo from the October 6, 1944 Delco-Remy Clan.

For more information on the Kings Mills Plant as part of DR during WWII, go to my World War Two Products and Applications page.

Plant One Complex Photos   Little Known Plant Photos  The Acre Plant Photos  Battery Plant Photos   Remote SLI Plant Photos   New Brunswick, NJ Demolition Photos