Description:
A competitor to what would become the Kellogg Co., the Battle Creek Food Company was owned and operated by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg in the former Compensating Pipe Organ Co. building along the railroad tracks in Springfield between 10th and 20th streets. Founded as the Sanitas Nut Food Co. in 1889, Kellogg originally ran the business with his brother, Will Keith, to produce food for current and former patients of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and for a time operated as the Kellogg Food Co. The brothers' differences — culminating in a legal battle that gave W.K. Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flake Co. the right to the family name, resulted in the final name change in the spring of 1921. The company continued to operate after John Harvey's death in 1943 under the direction of the Race Betterment Society. George C. McKay, chairman of Security National Bank and longtime cereal executive, acquired controlling interest of the company in May 1956. The company ceased operations in January 1961, when the new owner moved it to Worthington, OH. Central Iron bought the property in January 1970.
