How Old are the Buildings at Transco Railway Products?

Patrons visit, phone, and email the Newton Falls Public Library with their questions. One recent phone request was “How old are the buildings at Transco Railway Products, 2310 S. Canal Street in Newton Falls?”

The library staff first went to the Trumbull County Auditor’s website. We compared that map with the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from March 1928 [this database may be accessed through the Ohio Web Library on our homepage]. The business located there at that time was Ohio Structural Steel Company.

Searching online for this company, we found information on page 609 of the History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, Ohio, Volume 1 by James G. Butler, Jr. This book may be accessed online through Google books or in our Local History Room. According to Butler, “The Newton Falls Boiler Works was started in 1917 and transferred later to Hetzel Form and Iron Company. This constituted the nucleus of the Ohio Structural Steel Company, organized in 1919, that has constructed a plant of greatly increased size.” The History of Newton Falls compiled by Ella Woodward [Revised 1977 edition, pg. 85] stated that this company took over the Newton Falls Construction Company Plant.”

While background history is interesting, it hadn’t answered our patron’s question; so we contacted the Trumbull County Auditor. His office informed us that the newest building was constructed in 1995, the office in 1924, Parts & Storage (20’ X 57’, 1 story) in 1968, Building 2A (72’ X 160’) in 1955 and the Fab building in 1926.