State Chemical
State Chemical building on Superior Ave., built 1927.
Rudy Zucker in office at 2435 Superior Ave., 1931.
State Chemical truck outside 2435 Superior Ave. building.
Jay Zucker and others in front of State Chemical building on East 2nd Street, 1920.
Chemist in State Chemical lab at 2435 Superior Ave.
Aerial view of State Chemical facility at 3100 Hamilton Ave., 1974.
Founded in 1911 by the five Zucker brothers, the State Chemical Manufacturing Co. (today known as State Chemical Solutions, a division of State Industrial Products) has been producing industrial cleaning products as part of Cleveland's industrial landscape for over a century.
The company has occupied four different locations in its long history, three of which are documented in this collection. The first was at East 4th Street. In 1913, it moved to 2162 East 2nd Street. By 1927, the company had grown so much that it moved into a newly-constructed plant and warehouse on East Superior Street.
State Chemical continued to grow, eventually expanding into the Superior Avenue Baptist Church next door and purchasing a warehouse on Hamilton Avenue. This location became the company headquarters in 1966, and eventually expanded to cover an entire block. Today, State Chemical continues to manufacture and sell industrial cleaning products from its headquarters at 3100 Hamilton Avenue.
About the Photos
The photos gathered here, the majority in black and white, date from 1914 to 1974. Most of them were donated to Cleveland Memory from State Industrial Products while the rest originate from the Cleveland Press Collection and the Cleveland State University Office of Planning Structural Survey Collection.
For Further Reading
>> Go to Made in Cleveland to explore more about the manufacturing sector in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
Credits & Appreciation
This website is the practicum project of Library and Information Science student, Kylie Carpenter. She would like to thank the following from the Michael Schwartz Library at Cleveland State University: Bill Barrow, Special Collections Librarian; Lynn Bycko, Special Collections Specialist; Joanne Cornelius, Supervisor, Digital Production Unit; Lauren Felder, Web Specialist. In addition, she would like to thank William A. Barnett, Vice President and General Counsel, State Industrial Products Corp.
