Michigan History Moment explores the historical significance of Edward George Kingsford, his establishment of the Kingsford Chemical Company and his role in the development of the town named after him in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
This is Amy Wagenaar from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. The aroma. The taste. If you enjoy food cooked on a charcoal grill, you most likely have heard of Kingsford charcoal.
Kingsford got its name from Edward George Kingsford. And there is a town of Kingsford in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. So who was Kingsford and how did the town come about?
Edward Kingsford was born in:
In:
In:
To supply wood that he needed for his automobile factories. Kingsford took options on about 400,000 acres of up land.
He then persuaded Ford to buy more land near Iron Mountain for a new sawmill, dry kilns, an auto body plant and a wood distillation facility. A holding company called the Michigan Iron Land and Lumber Company brought the whole operation under one ownership.
Kingsford supervised the Iron Mountain plant plus Ford sawmills, shipping docks, logging camps and iron mines. The operations employed 30 thousands of people and a new town grew up south of iron Mountain.
In:
re in decline by then, and in:
They formed the Kingsford Chemical Company to produce the charcoal briquettes that formerly had been sold by Ford dealers throughout the United States. When the Kingsford Chemical Company took over, it churned out the famous Kingsford charcoal briquettes.
emical Company operated until:
Instead, factories in Kentucky, Oregon, Missouri and West Virginia make the Kingsford charcoal that originated in Michigan. This Michigan History Moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.
