The West Plant
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A Plant and A Community

The West Plant, also, A Plant and A Community. . , The West Plant , The Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) opened the Sheet Mill, later known as the West Plant, on this property in 1920. It was the nation’s largest aluminum fabrication plant. At one time, the nation’s entire supply of ALCOA Wrap aluminum foil was produced here, just one among many products made at the plant. On the last day of production in 1989, proud workers in three major production centers set production records., A Plant and A Community , The West Plant functioned as an integral part o the Springbrook community with residents often taking meals in the plant cafeteria and youth visiting the dairy window for ice cream and sodas. The plant was a great source of community and worker pride. , [Captions]: , The new sheet mill, c. 1922. The Springbrook community, built to house workers for the new mill, is shown in the background. , Above: The Sheet Mill Laboratory in 1933. , Above right: Silas Andrew “S.A.” Copp was the first supervisor of the Sheet Mill and one of Alcoa’s first three city commissioners. , Above: A 1960s-era shift change at the West Plant gate near Faraday Street. , Left: The West Plant cafeteria became part o the Springbrook community. Before there was a cafeteria at the high school, students often ate lunch there. , The West Plant office building on Mill Street near Faraday Street. , Left: New homes line Maury Street in 1920. , Right: A rendering of the elaborate Company club house planned for the hill above Faraday Street. Only the foundation was constructed due to a 1921 economic downturn in the aluminum market. In 1939, the new Alcoa High School was build on the foundation. , Sadly, a 1937 labor strike resulted in a violent confrontation between strikers and law enforcement. Henson Clark became the only laborer in the Company’s history to die as a result of labor violence. , Far left: Workers roll aluminum sheet at the Sheet Mill in 1933. , Left: The West Plant c. 1960s. , Right: The West Plant and the Springbrook community. In the right foreground are some of the new homes along upper Ramsay and Maury Streets c. 1950s. , For many years this sign stood on the West Plant property adjacent to Alcoa Highway. , Left: New Springbrook homes in 1920. , Lower right: Union Local 309 president Lamar Taylor speaks at the Army-Navy E Award ceremony on the West Plant office lawn in 1943.