Early & Daniel is an abandoned and partly demolished grain silo complex along Beekman Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio.
With only $500 for startup capital, the Early & Daniel Company was founded in Lawrenceburg, Indiana in 1881. 5 It was moved to Cincinnati soon after owing to its superior railroad and river transportation access and delivered hay by wagon to various stables in the area.
Early & Daniel constructed an iron-clad hay storage warehouse and a 60,000-bushel capacity elevator along Beekman Avenue in the Fairmount neighborhood in 1915. 3 Reinforced concrete grain silos, with a capacity of one million bushels, were added in 1925. The hay storage warehouse was later demolished and replaced with additional reinforced concrete grain silos with a capacity of one million bushels.
The company was the first local company to use regular direct mail advertising to attract business, the first to use aluminum-bodied, covered hoppers to store grain, and the first grain company in the region to ship on river barges. 5
Early & Daniel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1986, listing assets of $37.8 million and liabilities of $24.9 million. 4 On August 6, 1987, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Early & Daniel’s Fairmount and Riverside grain terminals to the Consolidated Grain and Barge Company.
The Mt. Carmel Sand and Gravel Company purchased the site in 2002 with the intention of using the silos for their company. 6 The project did not come to fruition and instead, the company contracted with Nationwide Demo to begin demolition in 2008. 1 Nationwide acquired the property in 2009 but abruptly stopped demolition partly through the project. In 2016, the land was sold to Solar Advantage of Northbrook, Illinois. 6
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Sources
- LeMaster, Kevin. “Mill Creek ‘landmark’ coming down.” Building Cincinnati 22 Oct. 2008.
- “Last Run to Johnson-Doppler Lumber.” Railroads of Cincinnati 9 Dec. 2003.
- “Insurance Maps of Cincinnati, Ohio.” Sanborn Map Company, vol. 5, Sanborn Map Company.
- Wilkinson, Ernest A. “Early & Daniel elevator sale OKd.” Indianapolis Star, 7 Aug. 1987, p. C12.
- “West-Pocket Overviews of the Top 10.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 30 Sept. 1984.
- “192-0069-0010-00.” Hamilton County Auditor, list.
2 Comments
Add Yours →I have a jointed teddy bear that made out of one of their feed sacks so you can read “Early & Daniel’s, Cincinnati, OH
Nice photos. I just found an old cloth feed sack from this company I’ve had from when I owned a feed and grain company years ago in Ohio.