GLMS 106 - Jeff Clark Hulett Unloader Collection
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| Title | GLMS 106 - Jeff Clark Hulett Unloader Collection |
|---|---|
| Introduction | The material in this collection was donated to the HCGL by Jeff Clark of Parma, Ohio in separate transfers in 1996, 1999, 2001, and 2005. Literary and property rights were donated to the public. Photocopying is permitted for purposes of conservation and research. The collection was processed in April 1997 by Mark J. Barnes and additions in May 2014 by Joe Lueck. |
| Agency History | From the 1850s until 1898 the process of unloading Great Lakes vessels carrying coal or other bulk cargos was a laborious manual effort. Bottlenecks at dock sites caused delays in shipping commodities to manufacturing plants. George H. Hulett, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, applied his engineering training to the design of a mechanical device to hoist loads out of the cargo holds of Great Lakes vessels. On March 20, 1898 the first “Hulett” unloader was installed at Conneaut, Ohio for the Pittsburgh, Shenango and Lake Erie Railroad Company. Andrew Carnegie sponsored the construction with $40,000. The success of the design was immediate. Large crews of shovelers were no longer needed to scoop out the vessel cargo holds. The bucket and hoist of the Hulett device could reach over 90% of the hold in most vessels. Only 3 shovelers were needed to unload the remaining cargo. About 80 Huletts were built from 1898 to 1954. The Cleveland-based engineering company of Wellman-Seaver-Morgan constructed most of these machines. The plans in this collection are in most cases Wellman-Seaver-Morgan products. The early Huletts (1898-1903) were steam driven. The second generation models were electrically powered. Bucket sizes grew from the original 10 ton scoops to a 20 ton capacity. The machines weighed as much as 1,500 tons in their later forms. Hulett unloaders helped the growth of steel manufacturing and other industries through streamlining the unloading of raw materials from transport vessels. The Huletts themselves were rendered obsolete with the development of self-unloading vessels. Fewer ports required the Huletts. None were built after 1954. Cleveland’s Whiskey Island dock for the C & P Railroad was the last place where Huletts were used on a large scale. Use was halted in Cleveland after the December 15, 1992 unloading of the LEMOYNE. As of 1993, 2 Huletts were still in limited service at Chicago. Local preservation efforts in Cleveland are designed to preserve the Whiskey Island Huletts as part of Cleveland’s industrial history. |
| Scope and Content | This is composed primarily of blueprints of design plans for industrial machinery used at docking facilities to unload freight vessels. Files in this collection date from 1908 to 1987. These Hulett unloaders were standard features of many Great Lakes harbors for much of the twentieth century. Three cubic feet of plans record the details of the hoisting and bucket devices used to remove bulk commodities such as coal or iron ore from Great Lakes freight vessels. There files date from 1908 to 1978. A small correspondence series from 1974-1976 describes renovations to the Presque Isle dock at Toledo, Ohio. Plans are included for the project. A series of reports from 1944-1977 cover statistics for cargoes unloaded at Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio. Harbor improvement projects for these cities are also documented. The service of a vessel crewman is recorded in the Continuous Discharge Book for ordinary seaman Michael J. Mackow of Cleveland, Ohio. This document records the trips on which Mackow sailed in the shipping seasons of 1945 and 1946. A comprehensive collection of photographs and photonegatives of construction and operation of Hulett Unloaders spanning from 1946-1990 visually documents the era of Hulett Unloaders on the Great Lakes. News clippings for 1950 to 1987 complete the collection. Hulett unloaders are the main focus of these clippings. |
| Series Description | ARCHITECTURAL PLANS Boxes 1-3, 5, 11, 1908-1978 Series contains architectural plans in blueprint form for Hulett unloading devices used to remove cargo from Great Lakes vessels. Most drawings date from 1908 to 1930. A few scattered items extend to 1978. Most of these plans are details of such things as the ore buckets that were components of the Hulett unloader. Most drawings were drafted by the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Engineering Company of Cleveland, Ohio. Arrangement is numerical by drawing. CORRESPONDENCE Box 4, 1974-1977 Series contains correspondence regarding construction at the Presque Isle docks at Toledo, Ohio. Renovations to the staff quarters cover most of the letters. Arrangement is chronological. REPORTS Box 4, 1944-1946, 1953, 1975-1977 Series contains reports regarding shipping activities in the Great Lakes ports of Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio. Dock reports note the arrival and departure of vessels along with their cargoes and cargo values for 1976-1977. Harbor improvement projects are discussed for 1944-1946 at Toledo and 1975-1976 at Cleveland. Arrangement is alphabetical. NEWSCLIPPINGS Box 4, 1950, 1952, 1955, 1971-1972, 1987; Box 9, 1894-2003 (Scattered); Box 10 Series contains news clippings on issues related to Hulett unloading equipment. Arrangement is chronological in Box 4 and Box 9 folders 1-2. Clippings in Box 9 folders 3-15 are arranged by location, providing histories of selected port cities PHOTOGRAPHS Boxes 4-8, 10, 1880-1998 Series contains photographs of Hulett Unloader development, construction, and use on the Great Lakes. Arrangement is chronological. Includes several photo albums in boxes 4, 6, and 7. An item-level inventory of the contents of the albums in boxes 4, 6, and 7 is attached to this finding aid. BROCHURES AND BOOKLETS Box 10, 1976, 1989, n.d. Brochures and similar material about various shipping lines, companies, and vessels. |
| Inventory | Box 1 1. Drawing 38 - General Ppla, Lakefront Dock, Toledo, OH, 1946 1. Correspondence: Presque Isle Dock at Toledo, Ohio, 1974-1976 Box 9 See attached PDF for item-level inventory of photo albums in boxes 6-7. |