Illustration shows how the company's factory looked around 1912

Brief Early History Outline of the Company

The W. B. Conkey Company came to the city just after the devastating fire which destroyed the Hammond Packing Plant, then the town's only major industry. In an ironic sort of twist Mr. Walter Blakesley Conkey as he was formally known, started the Conkey Company in Chicago, just after the devastating Chicago Fire of 1871. Mr. Conkey was just 19 years of age at this time.

In this era the bindery industry was just beginning to take on steam and was just as young as well. The equipment Conkey needed was often put together from scraps of second hand machines or junk pieces.

The Conkey Bindery Company started out, located on the old Monroe Street in the Chicago Loop area. One of the first customers of this fledging young company was the Chicago Daily News. Newspapers were folded and wrapped for delivery to the post office.

As business prospered the company moved from its Monroe Street basement to a building on Dearborn Street near Madison. With this added space, the Conkey Bindery Company became quite popular with many Chicago printers, that most closed down their own bindery department and sent their work over to Mr. Conkey.

In 1890 the company built a building of it's own, located on Dearborn Street near Harrison. Conkey named this large structure the "Franklin Building" after Benjamin Franklin. The company occupied several floors of the building, complete with manufacturing, typesetting and printing.

Ever expanding growth fueled the need for even larger quarters. Since there was no more room in the overcrowded and congested Loop. A tract of land in Hammond was offered to lure the company to the city. A new plant was built and completed in 1898. The new factory grounds consisted of 14 acres in what was then the wilds of Hammond. The building was one of the most modern printing plants when constructed. It was surrounded by a park-like atmosphere of lush gardens, trees and ponds.

This was an ideal location, which lead the company to prosper for many years to come. In the late 1940's the plant was sold to the Rand McNally Company.

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Source information from the microfilms of The Times newspapers located at the Hammond Public Library.
Twentieth Century Time Capsule © 1999 HammondIndiana.com

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