Most of my readers are aware of one of America’s greatest inventors, Thomas Alva Edison, 1847-1931. His numerous inventions, from incandescent light to motion pictures, have made the world a better place; they have brought comfort, enjoyment and productivity.

Few realize he also was involved in the early cement industry. Over the years, the Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum has been asked if we have an Edison Cement Company bag on exhibit. Unfortunately, we do not. A number of years ago someone wanted to sell the museum a bag. True to our frugality, all 3,000 artifacts in the museum are donations, so we did not purchase the sack; but my friend and museum secretary Larry Oberly has a photograph of one.

We knew Mr. Edison operated a cement plant in New Jersey. Our interest was stimulated when Mr. Oberly and his wife, Margie, visited the Edison summer home in Fort Meyers, Fla. Edison’s winter home is next to the Henry Ford home in the comfortable community. The homes are a favorite tourist designation.

Edison’s home gives one an appreciation of his genius, with exhibits of his inventions, light bulbs, stock ticker and motion picture cameras. And there it was - an Edison Cement Company cement bag.

The desk he worked at was basic at best. Across the street was a large machine shop, where his fertile mind continued to imagine and create. Edison’s original laboratory and workshop were in the village of Menlo Park, so Mr. Oberly was quite surprised to find one at his winter retreat as well. I guess this Edison quote gives us some of his philosophy: “Time is really the only capital that any human being has and the thing that he can least afford to waste.”

While in Menlo Park, Edison was developing an iron ore process in an attempt to recover low-grade iron ore, a big difference from his light bulb experiments. During the process, they accumulated a large amount of waste, and so, they thought, “Why not sell it to local cement companies?”

He was also investigating the possibility of perfecting rock-crushing equipment used in the industry. Interested in cement, he read and studied all the literature on the relatively new industry. His mental retention of facts resembled that of a modern computer.

After reading mountains of material, he decided to construct his own cement plant. Walter Mallory, a longtime friend who was an usher at his wedding, became president of the new Edison Cement Company.

Here is an amazing fact: Instead of hiring engineers to design the plant, Edison and Mallory went up the steps to his laboratory, where there was a large drafting table. Edison sat down and started to sketch a cement plant. In 24 hours, the plant was designed by his hand and later constructed to his specifications. No engineer was there to help with the design; it was all Edison.

The plant would operate for decades without any major alterations.

Edison sold stock in the company with a certificate bearing his portrait with his name signed twice, on the front and back of the certificate. It was dated Aug. 19, 1899.

This is the same era when the cement industry blossomed in the Lehigh Valley. The Atlas Cement Company constructed its first plant in Coplay in 1892 and a second plant in Northampton in 1895.

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We will visit the Edison Cement Company plant in two weeks. Please join us!