Covenhoven-Silvers-Logan House

Heyden Chemical Co. from Princeton Herald, July 18, 1951.

Historical Overview

A chemical manufacturing plant once fronted Route 1 directly south of the Dinky train line. This - the Heyden Chemical Corporation - was  a familiar mid-20th century sight in the historic West Windsor community of Penns Neck.

Ground was broken on this facility in 1943 and it formally opened the next year.[1] Heyden was contracted by the federal government's Defense Plant Corporation due to the medicine's ability to fight infections - especially useful for the armed forces.[2] Moreover, this plant produced a type of penicillin that did not need refrigeration as opposed to earlier products.[3] The facility seems to have been government built and owned at first but in 1946 Heyden formally purchased the plant for about $100,000.[4] In 1951, it was awarded $3,600,000 by the federal government to double production of both penicillin and streptomycin (another antibiotic and pain reliever).[5] Two years later, Heydin was also producing candicidin (an anti-fungal compound).[6]

In 1953, the manufacturing facility was purchased for $12,000,000 by American Cyanamid - a chemical, biopharmaceutical, and agricultural manufacturing conglomerate.[7] Although American Cyanamid's main facility in the area were developed near the intersection of Clarksville and Quakerbridge Roads,[8] they kept the Route 1 plant as well for the production of antibiotics.[9]

It's unknown when, exactly, the facility shut down, but by the mid-1980s, the complex had been demolished to make way for an office complex of Alexander Road.[10],[11]

Ad from Dec. 31, 1943 "Princeton Herald."

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Bibliography

1. "Penicillin Production Here is Highly Praised." Princeton Herald. November 22, 1946.
2. "Heyden Co. Buys Penicillin Plant At Penns Neck." Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser. March 26, 1946.
3. "Penicillin Production Here is Highly Praised." Princeton Herald. November 22, 1946.
4. "Heyden Co. Buys Penicillin Plant At Penns Neck." Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser. March 26, 1946.
5. "New Heyden Multi-Million Dollar Construction To Double Production of Penicillin, Antibiotics." Princeton Herald. September 12, 1951.
6. "New Antibiotic Now Being Made by Heyden." Princeton Herald. September 16, 1953."
7. "$12,000,000 Was Paid for Heyden Division." Princeton Herald. December 9, 1953.
8. "Industrious Spring." Town Topics. March 24, 1957.
9. "Safety Award." Town Topics. December 19, 1968.
10. “West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1980.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1980.
11. “West Windsor Aerial Photography Composite Map, 1985.” Map. Historical Society of West Windsor - Map Archives. West Windsor, NJ, 1985.