Location: Delray, MI - Solvay Process Company

The Solvay Process company was based in New York and was a chemical company and producer of soda ash. The company came to Detroit in 1889. It was a significant contributor to the settlement of the Delray area, which was not yet a part of the City of Detroit. 

This page refers to the Solvay facilities which were in Delray at the old Exposition site northeast of the Rouge River. Solvay had additional facilities on Zug Island (in River Rouge) and down river.


Solvay Process Company Map

Image Info: a 1918 map of the Delray area of the City of Detroit, showing the Solvay Process facilities on the former Detroit Exposition site east of the Rouge River, as well as parts of the Michigan Malleable Iron Company. [Baists Surveys of Detroit].


Notes

Most of the former Solvay facilities have been repurposed in support of the steel market.


Time Line

1920. The company was absorbed by the Allied Chemical and Dye Company.

Bibliography

The following sources are utilized in this website. [SOURCE-YEAR-MMDD-PG]:

  • [AAB| = All Aboard!, by Willis Dunbar, Eerdmans Publishing, Grand Rapids ©1969.
  • [AAN] = Alpena Argus newspaper.
  • [AARQJ] = American Association of Railroads Quiz Jr. pamphlet. © 1956
  • [AATHA] = Ann Arbor Railroad Technical and Historical Association newsletter "The Double A"
  • [AB] = Information provided at Michigan History Conference from Andrew Bailey, Port Huron, MI

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