Description:
The Eaton Manufacturing Co. plant on North 20th St. was an early pioneer of engine valve production and helped make Eaton one of the largest automotive suppliers in the nation. The original Springfield plant was on 9.4 acres, and by 1959, it had grown to 29.7 acres. Making news in 1953 was Eaton’s construction of a concrete vault with 32-inch thick walls to house a million-volt X-ray machine to inspect the interior machining of hollow-stem, sodium-filled valves for Curtis-Wright aircraft engines. Because of the demands of the Korean War effort, the factory employed some 3,200 workers at the time. When Eaton announced its decision to close 30 years later, some 250 active workers and 800 laid-off workers lost their jobs.
