Henderson history: Soybean plant’s groundbreaking tech led to spectacular explosions
The nation’s first cooperative for processing soybeans opened in Henderson in 1941 and in 1949 it broke ground again by using a new extraction process. The process, however, broke the city’s sewer system in 1957 by playing tiddlywinks with manhole covers.
Dark tobacco had been Henderson County’s main cash crop for most of its history; much of the output was exported but by the end of the 1940s most of those export markets had dried up. That prompted the Henderson County Farm Bureau, under the leadership of Ben E. Niles, to begin looking for a replacement crop.
The problem with growing soybeans here, however, is that most of the profits would be eaten up by transportation costs getting the beans to a processing facility. A Farm Bureau delegation visited Urbana, Decatur, and Champaign, Illinois, to gather information about growing methods and the general outlook for building a processing facility, according to a Gleaner story from March 21, 1940.
Work on the Ohio Valley Soybean Cooperative plant, which was located on Fifth Street on land now occupied by Bakery Feeds, began in October 1940 and the plant began operating June 18, 1941.
It wasn't long before the mill got up to speed. The July 13 issue of The Gleaner reported the mill was operating day and night, and that the first rail car of soybean oil was set to go out that week. During the first two months of operation the mill bought 19,368 bushels of beans at a cost of $21,154. After processing it into oil and meal, the cooperative realized a return of $28,895.
The plant initially had two presses, exerting 125 pounds per square inch, built to operate around the clock. Processing capacity was 400,000 to 500,000 bushels annually, which was provided by 364 farmers. A local market greatly enhanced the growing of soybeans in this area, so much so that a third press was added in 1943.
The soybean cooperative, by the way, contributed to the growth of Henderson’s plastics industries. According to The Gleaner of March 6, 1946, ground was broken for Kusan Inc., one of Henderson’s pioneer plastic injection molding factories; it was the first to begin using raw material from the soybean cooperative.
The soybean plant’s second act was detailed in The Gleaner of Feb. 16, 1949, which explained the new process the plant was beginning that day. Installation of the new equipment had been ongoing for the previous seven months.
“First the beans are chipped and rubbed into very fine flakes. Then they are run through a liquid called hexane, a petroleum derivative, which dissolves the oil contained in the beans.”
The liquid was then distilled to separate the soybean oil from the hexane, which was then reused. The soybeans were dried and made into meal, which mostly was sold to farmers to supplement livestock feed.
“Each bushel of soybeans produces from 9.5 to 10 pounds of oil. Using the old method, only about seven to eight pounds could be extracted from each bushel.”
G.W. Allen, the plant manager, said the plant could produce about 20 tons more of soybean meal per day. All told, it was expected to produce more than 70 tons of meal and about 31,350 pounds of oil daily.
The new plant was a showcase. Throughout the 1950s it was regularly visited by foreign visitors who wanted to learn more about the process. Most of those visits were arranged through the University of Kentucky’s foreign education program.
The flying manhole covers didn’t come until Christmas Eve 1956, according to The Gleaner of Dec. 26. The hexane explosions happened in pairs in the sewer line between the rail crossing of Fifth Street and the soybean plant. The first was about 6:30 p.m. and the last about 8:30.
Hexane, by the way, is fairly volatile and apparently quantities of it had leaked into the sewer line and ignited.
“The backlash of the subterranean blasts gushed water from bathroom fixtures in the area, and disrupted things in general. A boy was slightly injured when ‘blown’ across a kitchen as the backlash exploded in his face from a kitchen sink.”
Herman Hussel, water and sewer superintendent, said he had ruled out a leaking natural gas main, which had been his first suspicion. “It was the most unusual situation I have ever experienced,” he said.
“The water superintendent indicated that he was fairly sure of the source of the gas, but was not ready to comment,” The Gleaner reported. “He did say, however, that the source would not be in operation again for a couple of days, so he was sure the condition would not recur in that time.”
When Hussel was first called to the scene he found the manhole cover at the Fifth Street pumping station about 30 feet away from its hole. A heavy cast iron lid at the station itself had also been moved out of place a couple of inches.
“The workmen replaced the covers and thought the excitement was over, Hussel said, when there were more reports that two more were blown off. As they were debating whether or not to put them in place again, there was another explosion. This time fire gushed from one of the 24-inch manholes three or four feet into the air. This blazed for about 25 minutes, observers said.”
The Gleaner of Jan. 25, 1957, reported the city spent $1,250 to replace 500 feet of new sewer line, although at that point the cause of the explosions was still not publicly revealed.
That didn’t come until the Henderson City Commission meeting of Sept. 9, 1957, in which the commission approved a settlement of $1,857 with Aetna Insurance, the carrier for the soybean cooperative. The Gleaner carried a brief story the following day.
About the same time – early 1957 – a massive swindling scheme at the soybean mill came to light, which involved falsified weight tickets, although the cheating had been ongoing since at least 1952. The cooperative lost more than $50,000. A mill employee was sentenced to a year in jail and a Union County farmer got a five-year sentence. There were also civil suits that weren’t resolved until April 1959.
The soybean cooperative didn’t last too much longer. Members voted to dissolve it June 19, 1962, and dissolution was completed by June 17, 1963.
The Henderson City Commission minutes of June 4, 1963, show the city was paid all of nine cents for its three shares of common stock. That’s because the liquidation payment rate was 2.98 cents for each dollar’s worth of shares.
100 YEARS AGO
The traffic semaphore at Second and Main streets, which was put in place in the fall of 1923, was temporarily retired while the city’s two police forces were at odds but The Gleaner of Feb. 17, 1924, said it was back in service.
The Gleaner of Oct. 3, 1923, described it: “This sign has a 60-pound iron base, is of heavy metal tubing and is eight feet in height. It is surmounted by a regular semaphore lantern with red and green lenses,” which could use either oil or electricity for lighting.
The sign had been leaning against a telephone pole at the intersection while not being used.
50 YEARS AGO
The Henderson Post Office had invested in several lightweight bicycles, according to the caption of a photo that appeared in The Gleaner of Feb. 13, 1974.
Depicted with one of the bicycles was Patricia Shockley. “The bicycle, which was purchased in order to save gasoline, is often used in the afternoons for special deliveries within about a mile of the post office.”
25 YEARS AGO
The consultants conquered when it came to riverfront redevelopment.
The Gleaner of Feb. 17, 1999, reported that the previous evening, during a workshop of the Henderson City Commission, the Hargreaves Associates’ idea of extending Second and Third streets into boat ramps with an amphitheater between them had been scrapped.
That’s exactly what was built in the end, however – except for the idea of eventually turning the amphitheater area into a basin for small watercraft.
As of February 1999, however, the commission tentatively decided to use the money saved by junking that “fingers plan” of boat ramps to build what is now Redbanks Park and to clean up the area around the old Station I power plant.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Henderson history: Soybean plant’s tech led to spectacular explosions
