List of company towns in the United States

This is a list of company towns in the United States.

Towns listed in bold are still considered company towns today; other entries are former company towns. See the Category:Company towns in the United States for an unannotated list of articles.

Listed by state

Alabama

Acipco, Alabama, formerly owned by American Cast Iron Pipe Company
Aldrich, Alabama, formerly owned by Montevallo Coal Mining Company
Bayview, Alabama, formerly owned by Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
Bemiston, Alabama, formerly owned by the Bemis Brothers Bag Company
Chickasaw, Alabama, formerly owned by Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation^[1]
Docena, Alabama, formerly owned by Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
Edgewater, Alabama, formerly owned by Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
Fairfield, Alabama, (1910) originally "Corey", formerly owned by Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
Kaulton, Alabama, owned by Kaul Lumber Co.
West Blocton, Alabama, formerly owned by Cahaba Coal Mining Company
Woodward, Alabama, formerly owned by Woodward Iron Company, later acquired by US Steel

Arizona

Ajo, Arizona, owned by Phelps Dodge
Bagdad, Arizona, owned by Freeport McMoRan (formerly Phelps Dodge)
Clarkdale, Arizona, built, named for, and formerly owned by Senator William A. Clark's United Verde Copper Company
Morenci, Arizona, owned by Freeport McMoRan (formerly Phelps Dodge)

California

Betteravia, California, built by Union Sugar Company
Chester, California, associated with The Collins Companies
Cowell, California, built by Cowell Portland Cement
Crannell, California, built by Little River Redwood Company^[2]
Fort Bragg, California, is a decommissioned United States Army post with residential development and California Western Railroad service overseen by the Union Lumber Company^[3]
Graeagle, California, owned by Fruit Growers Supply Company, an affiliate of Sunkist
Hercules, California, built by the Hercules Powder Company
Irvine, California, built by The Irvine Company and incorporated in 1971; the largest planned community in the world, but technically not a company town.
Kirkwood, California, Owned by Vail Resorts
Korbel, Humboldt County, California, built by Humboldt Lumber Mill Company^[4]
McCloud, California, built by McCloud River Railroad Lumber Company.
Metropolitan, California, built by Metropolitan Redwood Lumber Company^[5]
Nipton, California, owned by American Green llc
Nortonville, California, owned by the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company
Pino Grande, California, built by El Dorado Lumber Company^[6]
Rockport, California, built by Cottoneva Lumber Company^[3]
Samoa, California, built by Vance Lumber Company^[7]
Scotia, California, largely owned by the Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO)
Selby, California, owned by American Smelting and Refining Company.
Spreckels, California, formerly owned by Spreckels Sugar Company
Tormey, California, owned by American Smelting and Refining Company.
Trona, California, formerly owned by American Potash and Chemical
Usal, California, built by Usal Redwood Company^[8]
Weed, California, named for sawmill owner Abner Weed
Westwood, California, built by the Red River Lumber Company, sold in 1944 to Fruit Growers Supply Company, an affiliate of Sunkist
Wheeler, California, built by lumber company

Colorado

Climax, Colorado, built by the Climax Molybdenum Company, The residential houses were all transported to the West Park subdivision of Leadville, Colorado, before 1965, leaving only the mining buildings standing.
Durango, Colorado, organized in 1880 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad
Gilman, Colorado, built around (and eventually abandoned due to) the New Jersey Zinc Company's Eagle mine
Ludlow, Colorado, was dominated by Colorado Fuel and Iron
Portland, Colorado, built by the Ideal Cement Company

Connecticut

Hazardville, Connecticut, industrial village centered around the Hazard Powder Company powder mill
Collinsville, Connecticut, industrial village centered around the Collins Axe Company Manufacture of Machetes and Hand Axes

Illinois

Granite City, Illinois, built by St. Louis Stamping Company, a steel company known for its "Granite ware" in which cooking utensils were made to look like granite
Hegewisch, Chicago, founded by Adolph Hegewisch (President of the United States Rolling Stock Company) to emulate the company town of Pullman.
Pullman, Chicago, once an independent city within Illinois, owned by the Pullman Sleeping Car Co.
Naplate, built and formerly owned by the National Plate Glass Co.
Steger, Illinois, built and formerly owned by Steger and Sons Piano.

Iowa

Buxton, a camp of the Consolidation Coal Company, abandoned.
Cleveland, a camp of the Whitebreast Coal and Mining Company, outside Lucas, abandoned.
Everist, a camp of the Mammoth Vein Coal Company (later, the Empire Coal Company), abandoned.
Muchakinock, a coal camp of the Consolidation Coal Company, abandoned.
Newton, where the well-known Maytag company closed down in 2006.
Numa and its abandoned suburb Martinstown, former home of the Numa Block Coal Company.
Severs, south of Colfax camp of the Colfax Consolidated Coal Company, abandoned.
Stone City, a town built by local limestone quarry businesses. Today an unincorporated community.

Indiana

Gary, Indiana, built and formerly owned by U.S. Steel ^[9]
Marktown, built for the Mark Manufacturing Company in East Chicago
Sunnyside, built and formerly owned by Inland Steel in East Chicago

Kentucky

Barthell, built by the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company in 1902.
Benham, built and formerly owned by International Harvester.
Blackey, built and formerly owned by Blackey Coal Company.
Blue Heron, ghost town built by Stearns Coal and Lumber Company.
David, built and formerly owned by Princess Elkhorn Coal Company.
Fleming-Neon, built and formerly owned by Elkhorn Coal Corporation.
Highsplint, built and formerly owned by High Splint Coal Company.
Jenkins, built and formerly owned by Consolidation Coal Company.
Lynch, built and formerly owned by U.S. Steel.
Midway, built and laid out by Lexington and Ohio Railroad in 1830.
Seco, built and formerly owned by South Eastern Coal Company.
Stearns, built by Stearns Coal and Lumber Company.
Stone, built and formerly owned by Pond Creek Coal Company. It was also owned by Fordson Coal Company and Eastern Coal Company.
Thealka, built and formerly owned by North East Coal Company.
Van Lear, built and formerly owned by Consolidation Coal Company.
Wayland, built and formerly owned by Elk Horn Coal Company.
Wheelwright, built and formerly owned by Elk Horn Coal Company.

Louisiana

Bogalusa, Louisiana, started by Great Southern Lumber Company
Elizabeth, Louisiana started by Industrial Lumber Company
Fisher, Louisiana, started by Louisiana Long Leaf Lumber Company
Glenmora, Louisiana started by Louisiana Sawmill Company Ltd.
Kinder, Louisiana started by Peavy Byrnes Lumber Company
Long Leaf, Louisiana started by Crowell and Spencer Lumber Company
Pawnee, Louisiana

Maine

Chisholm, Maine, built by the Otis Falls Pulp & Paper Company
Hastings, Maine, built by the Hastings Lumber Company^[10]
Katahdin Iron Works, built by Piscataquis Iron Works Company^[11]
Millinocket, Maine, 20th century residential development for the Great Northern Paper Company mill^[12]
Milo, Maine, includes residential developments for employees of Bangor and Aroostook Railroad's Derby shops^[13]
Newhall, Maine, residences for employees of Oriental Powder Company^[14]
Rumford, Maine, includes residential developments by paper mill owner Hugh J. Chisholm^[15]
Westbrook, Maine, 20th century economy dominated by S. D. Warren Paper Mill

Massachusetts

North Dighton, Massachusetts, former textile mill town, greatly expanded during the 1910s–1920s.
Whitinsville, Massachusetts, former home of Whitin Machine Works, textile machine manufacturer.
Hopedale, Massachusetts, former home of the Draper Corporation, textile machine manufacturer.

Michigan

Alberta, Michigan, started by Henry Ford
Gwinn, Michigan, owned by Cleveland Cliffs Iron, nicknamed the "Model Town", because CCI intended its layout to be a model for all of their other company towns
Hermansville, Michigan, started by the Wisconsin Land & Lumber Company

Minnesota

Akeley, Minnesota, developed by T. B. Walker and named for his business partner, Healy C. Akeley
Babbitt, Minnesota, developed by Reserve Mining Co.
Elcor, Minnesota, developed by Pickands Mather & Company
Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota, developed by Erie Mining Co.
Morgan Park, Duluth, Minnesota, built by U.S. Steel and named for J.P. Morgan
Splitrock, Minnesota, developed by the Split Rock Lumber Company

Mississippi

Bankston, Mississippi, ghost town, former location of Bankston Textile Mill^[16]
Electric Mills, Mississippi, started by Sumter Lumber Company^[17]
Fernwood, Mississippi, started by Fernwood Lumber Company

Missouri

Deering, Missouri, established by Deering Harvester Company or its successor International Harvester Company and later acquired by Wisconsin Lumber Company, which eventually ceased operations and divested it
Leadwood, Missouri, developed by St. Joe Lead
Trenton, Missouri, Ruskin College acquired all the businesses in the hopes of building a utopian society

Montana

Colstrip, Montana, a coal strip mining town formerly owned by Montana Power Company
Trident, Montana, a former Portland cement company town owned by Holcim

Nevada

Boulder City, Nevada, built and formerly owned by the United States Bureau of Reclamation
Empire, Nevada, owned by USG Corporation

New Hampshire

Berlin, New Hampshire, residential development for wood products manufacturing by Berlin Mills Company
Harrisville, New Hampshire, historic textile mill village; National Historic Landmark

New Jersey

Haskell, New Jersey, named for Laflin & Rand company president Jonathan Haskell
Manville, New Jersey, the largest tract of land was the Johns Manville Corporation
Maurer, Perth Amboy built by brick manufacturer after the Civil War and later absorbed into Perth Amboy
Roebling, New Jersey, a factory village within the limits of Florence, New Jersey; the town was owned by the Roebling Steel Corporation run by the descendants of John A. Roebling

New Mexico

Madrid, New Mexico, residential development for miners of the Albuquerque and Cerrillos Coal Company^[18]
Playas, New Mexico, built by Phelps Dodge Corporation

New York

Cohoes, New York, formerly owned by Harmony Mills
Endicott, New York planned and incorporated by Endicott Johnson Corporation
Johnson City, New York renamed by and after George F. Johnson of the Endicott Johnson Corporation
Oneida, New York, incorporated 1848 by the Oneida Community which later became Oneida Limited
Steinway Village, the part of New York City in Astoria, Queens used by employees of Steinway & Sons

North Carolina

Bunn, North Carolina, a former company town previously owned by the Montgomery Lumber Company
Bynum, North Carolina, formerly owned by J.M. Odell Manufacturing Company (town purchased by the county in the 1970s)
Canton, North Carolina, a company town built-up by the Champion International Paper Company
Kannapolis, North Carolina, owned by the Cannon Mills Company

Ohio

Glenwillow, Ohio, built by the Austin Powder Company^[19]
Goes Station, Ohio, built by the Miami Powder Company^[20]
Kings Mills, Ohio, built by the Great Western Powder Company and Peters Cartridge Company^[21]
McDonald, Ohio, built and formerly owned by the Carnegie Steel Company (later U.S. Steel)
Rossford, Ohio, founded by the Edward Ford Plate Glass Company (later Libbey-Owens-Ford)

Oklahoma

Broken Bow, Oklahoma
Wright City, Oklahoma, built by the Choctaw Lumber Company^[22]

Oregon

Algoma, Oregon, supported by the Algoma Lumber Company
Bradwood, Oregon^[23]
Brookings, Oregon, built by John E. Brookings and sold to California & Oregon Lumber Company
Dee, Oregon
Gilchrist, Oregon
Grand Ronde, Oregon
Hines, Oregon
Kinzua, Oregon
Maxville, Oregon
Mowich, Oregon
Neverstill, Oregon
Olney, Oregon
Orenco, Oregon, Oregon Nursery Company
Perry, Oregon
Pine Ridge, Oregon
Pondosa, Oregon
Powers, Oregon
Shevlin, Oregon
Southport, Oregon, owned by the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company
Starkey, Oregon
Valsetz, Oregon
Vanport, Oregon
Vaughn, Oregon
Wauna, Oregon
Wendling, Oregon
Westfir, Oregon
Wheeler, Tillamook County, Oregon
Wilark, Oregon

Pennsylvania

Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, former home of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company
Braddock, Pennsylvania, dominated by Carnegie Steel Company and later by U.S. Steel
Buck Run, Pennsylvania, built by James B. Neale between 1902 and 1943 for his anthracite coal miners and their families. By 1925, his company town boasted of a school, an infirmary, a community recreation facility, a company store and several churches in addition to homes for the miners with running water, electricity and steam heat. The Buck Run colliery was located outside of Pottsville, in Schuylkill County.
Ford City, Pennsylvania, organized in 1887 by PPG Industries
Hershey, Pennsylvania, built by Hershey Chocolate Corporation ^[9]^[24]
Kistler, Pennsylvania, built by the Mount Union Refractories Company in 1918, designed by John Nolen
Lake Trade, Pennsylvania, a now defunct coal mining town in Venango Township, Northern Butler County
Lawrence Park Township, Pennsylvania, built by General Electric Company in 1919
Natrona, Pennsylvania, built by the Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Company in the 1850s with later additions
Peale, Pennsylvania (1883–1912)
Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, founded by John A. Roebling and other German immigrants it was the site of his first wire works in the United States (see also Roebling, New Jersey)
Claghorn, Vintondale, and Wehrum, Pennsylvania, built by the Lackawanna Coal Company
Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, a borough formed by the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, established by George McCurtry, President of Apollo Iron and Steel Company

Rhode Island

Slatersville, Rhode Island, historic former mill village

South Carolina

Newry, South Carolina

South Dakota

East Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an old quarrying town east of Sioux Falls, owned by the East Sioux Falls Quarry Company.

Tennessee

Alcoa, Tennessee, formerly owned by Alcoa and still economically dominated by the company
Norris, Tennessee, built and formerly owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, built in secret by the United States government for the Manhattan Project; controlled by the federal government until 1959
Old Hickory, Tennessee, built to house DuPont employees; now a suburb of Nashville

Texas

Camden, Texas, owned by the W.T. Carter & Brother Lumber Company and its successors
Sugar Land, Texas, once owned and run by the Imperial Sugar Company, transformed into an upscale suburb of Houston
Thurber, Texas, owned by a coal-mining subsidiary of the Texas and Pacific Railway

Utah

Bingham Canyon, Utah
Bryce Canyon City, Utah, built and owned by Ruby's Inn and the Syrett family, owners of Ruby's Inn

Vermont

Proctor, Vermont, once owned by the Vermont Marble Company; the town of Proctor was under the control of Senator Redfield Proctor

Virginia

Bacova, Virginia, created by the Tidewater Lumber Company. The name Bacova was selected by the company as shorthand for Bath County, Va.
Saltville, Virginia, dominated by Mathieson Alkali Works and its successors through the Olin Corporation
Stanleytown, Virginia was dominated by Stanley Furniture

Washington

Alpine, Washington, owned by Alpine Lumber Company
Barneton, Washington, owned by Kent Lumber Company, bought in 1911 by Seattle City Light, razed in 1924
Black Diamond, Washington, owned by the Black Diamond Coal Mining Company, sold to the Pacific Coast Company in 1904
Bodie, Washington, and its related Bodie Mine controlled by the Northern Gold Company
Coulee Dam, Washington was originally two adjacent company towns created in 1933 to support the construction of Grand Coulee Dam – Mason City, owned by lead construction contractor Consolidated Builders Inc., and Engineers' Town, owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. CBI transferred control of Mason City to Reclamation in 1942. Reclamation then combined Engineers' Town and Mason City into Coulee Dam in 1948, began selling the town to its inhabitants in 1957, and completed the divestiture in 1959, when Coulee Dam officially incorporated as a town.
Diablo, Washington is a running settlement in unincorporated Whatcom County, it was created by Seattle City Light in 1930
Dupont, Washington, provided housing to workers at a dynamite factory on the waterfront operated by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.
Holden, Washington, built by the Howe Sound Mining Company, which also owned Britannia Beach; once the most productive copper mine in the U.S., the mine closed in 1957 and it and the townsite were sold to a unit of the Lutheran church for $1 in the 1950s; now run as a Christian retreat center
Hooper, Washington, owned by the McGregor Land and Livestock Company
Longview, Washington, established in 1921 by the Long-Bell Lumber Company and led by Robert A. Long the lumber baron from Kansas.
Newhalem, Washington, owned by Seattle City Light, as is nearby Diablo
Port Gamble, Washington, still owned by Pope & Talbot but the lumber mill has not operated since the mid-1990s
Roche Harbor, Washington, formerly supporting lime kilns owned by Tacoma and Roche Harbor Lime Company
Ruston, Washington, established by industrialist William Rust; the town's primary industry was an ASARCO copper smelting plant
Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, established by Weyerhaeuser. It was abandoned on an unknown date.

West Virginia

Cass, West Virginia, founded in 1901 for West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company logging the nearby mountains
Coalwood, West Virginia, formerly owned by the Olga Coal Company
Gary, West Virginia, formerly owned by U.S. Steel
Grant Town, West Virginia, built by the Federal Coal and Coke Company, which built and operated the Federal No. 1 Mine.
Kay Moor or Kaymoor, West Virginia, owned by the Low Moor Iron Company

Wisconsin

Fosterville, Wisconsin, was built by John J. Foster of the Vilas County Lumber Company. Now it is named Presque Isle, Wisconsin
Goodman, Wisconsin, built by Goodman Lumber Co.
Kohler, Wisconsin, built by the Kohler Company
Laona, Wisconsin, built by the William D. Connor's Connor Company
Winegar, Wisconsin, Fosterville renamed by William S. Winegar of the Vilas County Lumber Company in 1910. Now named Presque Isle, Wisconsin

Wyoming

Bairoil, Wyoming became a company town supported by Amoco
Jeffrey City, Wyoming was built in the 1950s to house employees of nearby Western Nuclear uranium mining and milling operations. Other uranium mining companies built housing adjacent to the town to take advantage of its location and infrastructure. The townsite was sold off in an auction in the 1990s.
Gas Hills, Wyoming was composed of several mining companies' towns, the largest of which was owned by Lucky Mc Uranium.
Shirley Basin, Wyoming was another uranium mining company town owned by Utah Construction and Mining's uranium operations.
Table Rock, Wyoming was built in the 1970s to support the nearby Colorado Interstate Gas processing plant.
Wright, Wyoming was built by ARCO in the 1970s to support its Black Thunder Coal Mine. Wright incorporated in 1985

References

^ Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501 (1946).
^ Carranco, Redwood Lumber, pp. 163, 166 & 202
^ ^a ^b Carranco, Lynwood (1982). Redwood Lumber Industry. San Marino, California: Golden West Books. p. 207. ISBN 0-87095-084-3.
^ Carranco, Redwood Lumber, pp. 200–203
^ Carranco, Redwood Lumber, p. 203
^ Berry, Swift (1957). "Michigan-California Lumber Company". The Western Railroader. 21 (218). Francis A. Guido: 7–12.
^ Carranco, Redwood Lumber, p. 145
^ Carranco, Lynwood (1982). Redwood Lumber Industry. Golden West Books. p. 209. ISBN 0-87095-084-3.
^ ^a ^b Hardy Green (2010). The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-01826-2.
^ Wight, D.B. (1971). The Wild River Wilderness. Courier Printing Company.
^ Angier, Jerry; Cleaves, Herb (1986). Bangor and Aroostook. Flying Yankee Enterprises. pp. 4–5. ISBN 0-9615574-2-7.
^ Bangor and Aroostook p. 24
^ Melvin, George F. (2010). Bangor and Aroostook in Color, Volume Two. Morning Sun Books. p. 29. ISBN 1-58248-285-3.
^ Dole, Samuel Thomas Windham in the Past (1916)
^ Jennifer Stowell-Norris, The History of Strathglass Park
^ The Bankston Textile Mill Retrieved 2014-03-31
^ Electric Mills Archived 2014-01-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2014-03-31
^ Myrick, David F. (1970). New Mexico's Railroads. Colorado Railroad Museum. pp. 138–9.
^ "History of Austin Powder Company". Reference for Business. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
^ Burba, Howard (5 March 1933). "Remember When the Powder Mills Exploded?". Dayton Daily News.
^ Sullebarger Associates, PAST Architects. "Ahimaaz King House and Carriage House Historic Structure Report" (PDF). Deerfield Township, Ohio. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 June 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
^ "History of Wright City". Oklahoma Historical Association. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^ McArthur, Lewis A.; McArthur, Lewis L. (2003) [1928]. Oregon Geographic Names (7th ed.). Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0875952772.
^ "Monuments to power". The Economist. 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2010-10-19. But many other towns were monuments to the Utopian spirit. Benevolent bosses such as Milton Hershey, a chocolate king, and Henry Kaiser, a shipping magnate, went out of their way to provide their workers not just with decent houses but with schools, libraries and hospitals. ... Gary, Indiana, one of US Steel's proudest creations, now suffers from one of the highest murder rates in the country.