MEISEL AVE.

The Rahway Valley Railroad crossed its namesake, the Rahway River, near MP 4. The river itself marks the border between the Townships of Union and Springfield. Originally, the expanse between the Rahway River and Van Winkle's Brook was marshy land and spanned by a wooden trestle. This section was later filled in and occupied by a succession of industries, the last of which folded in 1930. Afterwards, this area became sports fields and a flood control basin.

Burt Billiard Ball Co. (1909-1914)
Meisel Ave., Springfield. 

Manufacturer of billiard and pool balls. 

George H. Burt, Michael F. McLaughlin, and William Flemer incorporated the Burt Billiard Ball Co. in August 1909. The company established a plant alongside the RV in Springfield, between Van Winkle’s Brook and the Rahway River. The company manufactured billiards and balls as well as plastic articles and novelties and had two sidings off of the railroad. The company folded in 1914.

Silvell Metal Co. (1914-1915)
Meisel Ave., Springfield. 

Sheet metal fabricator. 

In March 1914, it was reported that the Burt Billiard Ball Co. had gone defunct and its plant would be reconditioned and leased to the Silvell Metal Co. (sometimes referred to as the Silver Metal Co.). The company began operations and was engaged in the manufacturing of numerous articles from sheet metal. The company said it would eventually employ three hundred persons. However, a year later, its lease was terminated and the occupancy of the property transferred to the Chemical Company of America.

Chemical Company of America (1915-1927)
Chemical & Dye Corp. (1927-1930)
Meisel Ave., Springfield. 

Manufacturer of chemical products; inbound coal and sulphur. 

The Chemical Company of America situated itself between the Rahway River and Van Winkle’s Brook in Springfield, taking over the former plant of the Burt Billiard Ball Co. The land between the two streams was water-laden marshland. The RV filled the property in with cinders for the new manufacturing concern. The company was founded by Dr. Samuel Isermann in 1915. At its height, the company employed well over 125 people and occupied approximately twenty buildings spread over six acres. The plant had two sidings off the RV and shipped a large quantity, and assortment, of chemicals overseas. Production included various aniline dyes, photographic chemicals, and perfume synthetics. The plant also manufactured cellulose acetate, benzyl benzoate, and benzyl acetate, used largely in the coating of airplane wings. The Chemical Company of America had on its property a large settling pond which, according to some sources, may have been used to soak timber in creosote. There was also an access road, from Mountain Ave., across what is now Waverly Ave. and a concrete bridge across Van Winkle’s Book, adjacent to the railroad’s own span. The company was constantly at odds with Union County due to the seepage of toxic chemicals into the Rahway River. When the United States joined the allied forces and entered World War I in 1917, the Chemical Company of America began manufacturing tear-inducing irritants and debilitating or fatal poison gases. The company suffered from several explosions and fires throughout the war. A particularly devastating fire ravaged the plant on August 9, 1915. Orders forbidding the admission of all outsiders, enacted in fear of acts of espionage by foreign enemies, were so strictly enforced that armed guards stationed about the company’s property refused to permit the Springfield Fire Department to enter. The flames had first been discovered from an RV train as it passed the plant. The fire persisted for over two hours as company forces attempted to extinguish it. Captain Roscoe Ruby stated that unless the Chemical Company of America satisfactorily explained its position to local officials, he would refuse to respond to future alarms at the plant. Production waned after the war's end in 1918. The Chemical Company of America went bankrupt in 1925. The company merged with several other struggling chemical manufacturers in 1927 to form the Chemical & Dye Corporation. Meisel Ave. was constructed across the southernmost portion of the company’s property during the same year, which would have necessitated the removal of at least a portion of the company’s pond. The Chemical & Dye Corporation slipped into receivership. The property was sold by the receiver to the Union County Park Commission for $21,000 in December 1930. A few of the plant buildings existed as late as 1940. The park commission has developed the land into “Meisel Ave. Park” and has athletic fields for the nearby Jonathan Dayton High School. There are, however, traces of the plant. There are remnants of the concrete abutments of the plants access bridge over Van Winkle’s Brook lying on the creek bed. Also, if one looks, the embankment which the RV sits upon between Meisel Ave. and Van Winkle’s Brook is exceptionally wide - which was to accommodate the parallel siding for the Chemical Company of America.