Pittsburgh Grease Plant
Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Long a major producer of lubricating grease for industry, transportation, and the military. In WWII, supplied 5,000,000 pounds of "Eisenhower grease," vital to the war effort. Founded here, 1885, by Grant McCargo. After 1929, part of Standard Oil (NJ); operated until 1999.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Founded in Pittsburgh by Grant McCargo in 1885, this plant became a major producer of the lubricating grease that kept American industry, railroads, and machinery running. Its most storied contribution came during World War II, when it supplied five million pounds of "Eisenhower grease" deemed vital to the war effort. Absorbed into Standard Oil of New Jersey after 1929, the works kept operating until 1999 — more than a century of quiet but essential industrial labor.
Why it matters
The plant is a monument to the unglamorous industrial backbone of American power, the kind of specialized manufacturing that lubricated both the nation's factories and the machinery that won a world war.
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Related people
- · Grant McCargo
Themes & tags
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