Allentown Portland Cement Co.

Allentown Portland Cement Company was incorporated in New Jersey in 1906 and reincorporated in Pennsylvania on April 23, 1919. The company completed its first plant in Evansville, Pennsylvania, in 1910. In 1956 it had an annual capacity of 2,340,000 barrels of cement. In 1953 Allentown Portland acquired Valley Forge Cement Company and a second plant in West Conshohocken was added with an annual capacity in 1956 of 2,160,000 barrels. These plants made Portland and mortar cement, which was sold primarily in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and New England. In June 1960, National Gypsum Company acquired Allentown Portland through an exchange of shares valued at $30.9 million. At the time of the acquisition, Allentown Portland had assets of $19.3 million and net earnings in 1959 of $3.2 million. As a result of the purchase, National Gypsum gained control over one-third of the cement distribution in the United States.