Category: History/Research

A few months ago I found a really cool print ad on ebay. Well what do you know – I found another one from the same series! While the first was undated, this one was attributed to Time Magazine, November 1963. Every foot of flat rolled steel you order from Acme Steel comes out precisely […]

I came across this item on ebay and watched it for about 10 days. They wanted $35 plus $5 shipping. This is a big price for what I knew would amount to probably 1 page of coke related content. This item does however offer some other info just at face value. It seems to insinuate […]

I look at loads of Acme/Interlake related ‘stuff’ on ebay everyday. Most of it I do not buy and just add to the Ephemera page. But once in a while I see something so cool I just have to have it. The photos are really cool but whoever wrote that ad copy got a Cleo […]

In about two years of hunting for documents and sharing them with the world via this website, I have come across a small handful that I just wasn’t sure what to do with. These documents seem to have some historical significance but are only a piece to a puzzle – and the other pieces are […]

Surveyors have a language all of their own. Once upon a time, people needed a way to express via the written word where a piece of land was, and how large it was. I don’t know if surveyors still write like this or not. Then again, at least in South Deering, nothing has changed in […]

When I first discovered the plant, my goal was to identify what it was, or once was. I tried to use Google Search to figure out the address (which I eventually did), and then the county property tax ID. I never did – and I never spent anytime on this again, despite all my research. […]

Trains played an important role at the coke plant. They were used largely to move coal from nearby storage facilities to the plant as needed. The plant operated it’s own locomotives. Trains were also used to move hot iron from the furnace plant to the mill in Riverdale. Here at some of photos of Interlake/Acme […]

There is nothing more thrilling in my world of coke plant archeology then to recover a document or item; then sometime later recover another one which is a companion to the first. Suddenly information is unlocked and the latter serves as a Rosetta Stone for the former. Below I outline one of those great moments. […]

This guest piece was written and submitted by local historian Bob Lalich. His research on this topic is unprecedented and nothing similar is available to our knowledge. Big thanks to Bob for sharing this valuable information! By-Products Coke Corp plant was constructed in 1905. The plant was served by a dedicated railroad – Calumet, Hammond […]

My first exposure to this logo was on the 2001 original version of acmecoke.com. When my friend (and Acme veteran) Steve Buckner mentioned that he had created a site near the end of the plant’s run, I went to archive.org to find it. I ended up rebuilding the site on my own server which is […]