Recently, LeRoy Brobst, Northampton Borough manager, and Keith Piescienski, borough councilman, gave this writer five volumes of “The Dragon” magazine from the Dragon Cement Co., dated 1958. Keith’s father Frank was a long-time employee at the Northampton plant.
The old Dragon provided employment for many area residents. The original plant was located in the village of Siegfried, which is now Northampton’s first ward. Cement in Siegfried was first produced in 1828 by Samuel Glase in a primitive operation. The cement was used in the construction of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Canal.
The name Dragon was the symbol of the Lawrence Cement Co. 1899-1951. The president of the Lawrence selected the name Dragon after watching the opera Siegfried in which a dragon was part of the production. In those years, the Lawrence was in the village of Siegfried.
Over the years Dragon Cement was used in many projects. New York City was a big market for the cement projects, including Grand Central Terminal, New York Custom House, New York subways, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania highways.
In 1951 the Lawrence became the Dragon Portland Cement Co. In 1961 Martin Marietta purchased the plant. Sadly, the plant closed in 1983 thus ending the cement era in the Konkrete borough.
The first quarry dates back to the Bonneville Cement Co. in 1890. The quarry was purchased by the Lawrence Cement Co. in 1899 and it continued until a new quarry was opened. Today the quarry is owned by LaFarge and was a major source of cement rock for many years.
The old quarry is filled with water. Presently, a diving academy utilizes the quarry to train divers. The depth at spots reaches 300 feet. The Dragon constructed a road to haul stone to the crusher. The stone was moved by rail crossing Main Street to the mill.
In two weeks, Dragon and the community.
