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Article: Days Gone
- Article from:
- Courier-News (Elgin, IL)
- Article date:
- February 25, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (c) 2001 Courier-News. (Hide copyright information)
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Elgin was once the headquarters of four major corporations listed on the New York Stock Exchange: Elgin National Watch, McGraw-Edison, Safety-Kleen and Katy Industries.
Of these four, Katy Industries Inc. was a giant conglomerate, a mixture of businesses producing unrelated products and services.
Founded by Wallace E. Carroll (1908-1990), who became the majority stockholder, it was chartered in 1967 and moved its offices from New York City to 853 Dundee Ave., Elgin, in 1970.
After the Second World War, Carroll formed the American Gage and Machine Co. Using it as a holding company, he began buying small manufacturing businesses.
Katy became the parent of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad ...