The historic American Crayon Company's life cycle isn't ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but kitchen to kitchen.
It was in a kitchen in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1850, that the brother of the city's first school superintendent was asked to make a better chalk for the district's teachers. The product grew into a business, and the business grew out of the kitchen and into a full-fledged factory.
A century later, the factory is no more. But before it was taken down, Pioneer Millworks (Farmington, N.Y.) was able to get in and salvage some 24,000 square feet of maple. Homeowners can purchase the wood through Millworks' Foundry Maple line, which can be installed throughout a house's living areas and, for the full-circle effect, the kitchen.
Editor's Note: If your company reclaims wood with a story, we want to hear about it. Send the story and a few photos to [email protected]. Read about wood reclaimed near the first navigable canal in America, this series' first installment.
