What is National City known for?
National City was a suburb of East St. Louis, Illinois. Incorporated in 1907, it was a company town for the St. Louis National Stockyards Company. In 1996, the company, which owned all residential property in the town, evicted all of its residents.
Why were the National Stockyards in East St Louis?
The National Stockyards sought to consolidate that bloody industry in one convenient location, and East St. Louis offered flat, inexpensive land as well as the aforementioned amenable politicians to make the venture a success. The St. Louis National Stockyards Company was formed in 1873, before the completion of the Eads Bridge.
Why did they abandon National City Illinois?
They didn’t abandon us, we abandoned them. The “Saint Louis National Stock Yards” opened in 1873 and incorporated as “National City, Illinois” in 1907. The National Stock Yards closed in 1997 after a devastating fire. As part of the closing, the estimated 50 residents of National City were evicted and the village was dissolved.
What happened to the National City Stockyards and packinghouses?
Ultimately, the National City stockyards and packinghouses died, not because the industrialists abandoned the economics and ideas upon which these businesses were founded, but because the people who lived in the metropolitan St. Louis area abandoned those ideas.
Where did National City advertise?
National City advertised in Europe, soliciting immigrants primarily from Eastern Europe to come to the U.S. to work in the packinghouses. Many thousands arrived in National City and the surrounding area, establishing themselves and making their living in the meatpacking plants.
When did the National City Stockyards become the largest hog market in the world?
Receipts of cattle vacillated during this decade, but National City competed for first in the nation in hog receipts, eventually surpassing Chicago and Omaha to become the largest hog market in the world in 1954 and earning East St. Louis the epithet “Hog Capital of the Nation”. However, though National City would continue to dominate the hog market for the next decade, its fortunes were changing with the market. The advent of the truck—and later, the interstate highway system —coupled with rising labor costs connected to unionization and the antiquation of outdated factories was causing the meatpacking industry to decentralize and relocate away from centralized terminal markets such as National City to rural areas, where it could find cheaper, nonunion labor, build new factories close to the livestock producers and buy directly from them, thus eliminating the middleman of the stockyard industry and cutting costs.
How many sheep were in the National Stockyards?
The National Stockyards had been built to accommodate up to 15,000 head of cattle, 10,000 sheep, 20,000 hogs, in addition to a large quantity of non-meat animals such as horses and mules.
What is National City?
National City was a suburb of East St. Louis, Illinois. Incorporated in 1907, it was a company town for the St. Louis National Stockyards Company. In 1996, the company, which owned all residential property in the town, evicted all of its residents. The following year, because it had no residents, National City was dissolved by court order.
When did the Armour packinghouse close?
The Armour packinghouse in National City was the first plant owned by a major national firm to close in 1959, laying off 1,400 employees. It would not be the last. By 1986, the last meatpacking plant located in National City had closed its doors, ending an era.
When did Saint Louis close down?
Closing down, 1997. In April 1996, the Saint Louis National Stockyards Company, which owned all of the residential property in National City, ordered the town's approximately 50 remaining residents to leave.
When was National Stock Yards established?
The National Stock Yards National Bank, established with the yards in 1873 , became a major financial institution in the St. Louis area, helping to finance the day-to-day operations of the yards. Up until the end of World War II, it would be the largest Illinois bank outside of Chicago.
What was the hog capital of the nation?
by Thomas Petraitis. In the 1960’s, a large sign surrounded by a landscaped park welcomed visitors to East St. Louis and proudly proclaimed the city to be the “Hog Capital of the Nation”. Today, academics and historians are trying to justify the immense decay of this city by blaming the factories and packinghouses that closed over 40 years ago ...
What packinghouses were there in the area around the stockyards?
Many different packinghouses were established in the area around the stockyards. Armour, Swift, Hunter, Morris, and others had packinghouses in National City, but, while Armour began with the processing of hogs, Swift found a way to ship refrigerated beef all the way to the major east coast cities.
Why did packinghouses need large urban areas like St. Louis?
Packinghouses needed large urban areas like St. Louis nearby in order to sell the fresh beef before it spoiled. Location of stockyards near rail centers was always shrewd and logical, particularly in East St. Louis.
Why did the packinghouse start with hogs?
The process had to start with hogs because, without refrigeration, much of the meat needed to be preserved in the form of salted meats such as bacon and hams before it could be shipped. The term “packinghouse” comes from the process of “packing” salted pork (and a beef-jerky-like salted beef) into barrels.
Where were cattle unloaded from the western states?
Lacking a bridge over the Mississippi River, cattle from the western states were being unloaded at stockyards in St. Louis and then ferried across the river to be kept in East St. Louis until they could be shipped to eastern cities on many different railroads. With the opening of the Eads Bridge in 1874, the railroads and their eastern investors ...
Where did Philip Armour's organization originate?
It was the organization of workers that was the genius of Philip Armour. Taking a concept that originated in a crude form in the packinghouses of Cincinnati (when that city was known as “Porkopolis”), Mr. Armour organized his workers on a scale and in ways the world had never seen before.
What was the name of the city in 1817?
1817 Illinois City changed to Illinoistown by the firm McKnight and Brady. 1821 Illinoistown becomes major supplier of coal, food and raw materials for city of St. Louis. 1840 First one-room school in Illinoistown built on Bond between 5th and 6th Streets. 1840 Brooklyn, IL founded to serve as a home for freed slaves.
What was the name of the railroad that ran from Cincinnati to Illinoistown?
1857 Ohio and Mississippi railroad pulled by the locomotive "San Francisco" makes its run from Cincinnati to Illinoistown down Main Street. 1861 Illinoistown name officially changed to East St. Louis. Railroad workers paid $5.00 each to vote for the new name. 1865 East St. Louis Re-chartered.
