No fee unless we recover compensation for your family Text size 833-4-ASBESTOS (833-427-2378) Free Case Review

Johns-Manville plant at Nashua, New Hampshire

Johns-Manville's plant at Nashua, New Hampshire, began as something else: according to the Nashua edition of J-M's employee magazine, The J-M Factory Circle, in 1929, it "was a soapstone works owned by Henry W. Whitney," and "on December 3, 1907, the H. W. Johns-Manville Company took over the plant as the Asbestos Wood Company."4 In 1990, the fund that answered lawsuits for Manville Corporation dated the Nashua plant "1907 to 1985" in its sworn answers.5

You don't need the product names or old records. No fee unless we recover compensation for your family.

Call 833-4-ASBESTOS Request a review

What the plant made

In June 1921, Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, reported New England newspaper announcements that the Asbestos Wood Company of Nashua, "a Johns-Manville subsidiary, is to construct plant additions to cost $250,000," and that the new plant "will manufacture corrugated asbestos wood."7 The 1929 Factory Circle wrote that "the first rigid asbestos product was flat Transite."4

In February 1930, The J-M Circle reported plans by S. A. Williams, J-M's vice-president in charge of mines and factories, for more machinery at Nashua to make "Asbestos Ebony, Electrobestos, Transite and Transite specialties," and equipment for "quantity production" of two new products, asbestos wall tile and asbestos wall board.1 The same report said the machinery "for manufacturing asbestos shingles" was to be moved to Manville, New Jersey, and in 1980 Asbestos recalled the company's announcement that it "would discontinue manufacture of asbestos shingles at its plant at Nashua."1,2

Later sources name particular products. A 1942 J-M item described a "new machine at J-M's Nashua, N. H. plant for standard and Decorative Flexboard."8 In 1948 Asbestos called Nashua the place "where asbestos-cement board is made."3 A 1961 J-M item said "marine products are made at Billerica and Nashua plants," among them Reeferite, and a 1966 J-M item named Nashua as a plant for Flat Transite.9,10 In 1990 the Manville fund's sworn answers listed the Nashua plant's products, from Aegean, Asbestocite and Chemstone to Ebony, Electrobestos, Flat Transite, Flexboard, Marine Veneer, Marinite 36 and Marinite 65, Steam Cured Transite and Transite core plates.5

Manville's own descriptions of some of these products, reported to the EPA and published in 1990, give Flat Transite "asbestos fiber, 25 to 35%," Reeferite "asbestos fiber, 25 to 35%," and Flexboard "asbestos fiber, 40 to 70%"; those figures describe the products, not Nashua's output in particular.11

The people who worked there

In 1929 The J-M Factory Circle wrote that "16 per cent of those now working in the plant" had been Johns-Manville employees "for 10 years or more."4 In 1950 Asbestos listed "Johns-Manville industrial products at Nashua, N. H." among the plants under a new production supervisor.6 Manville's 1990 answers name the doctors who served the Nashua plant, among them Daniel J. Sullivan, M.D., "1945 to 1974," and Richard A. Williams, M.D., "11/77 to 1985."5

Location

Nashua, New Hampshire, the city named in the documents. The dot marks the city, not the plant's address.

Pictures of products made here

Labels, packages, photographs and catalog pages from our library of products documents say were made at this plant. Each picture has its own page and library number.

Asbestos products made here

The products documents say were made at this plant, with the years a document gives for the product here. Each product's page has what the documents say about it, including its asbestos content.

Asbestos claims

If you or a family member worked at this plant, lived with someone who did, or worked with its products, and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, a claim may be paid by the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Free case review.

What each document says

Every statement about this plant in the documents, in each document's own words.

The J-M Circle, 1930, February 1930

  • Products made: “Asbestos Ebony, Electrobestos, Transite and Transite specialties ... Asbestos Wall Tile ... Asbestos Wall Board” (Johns-Manville), said by S. A. Williams, Vice-President in Charge of Mines and Factories, Johns-Manville, as recorded by The J-M Circle, p. 41
  • Description: “removal of the machinery for manufacturing asbestos shingles, which is to be installed at Manville” (Johns-Manville), said by The J-M Circle, as recorded by The J-M Circle, p. 41

Asbestos Magazine, 1980, March 1980

  • Products made: “would discontinue manufacture of asbestos shingles at its plant at Nashua ... the Nashua plant was to begin production of the newly-developed asbestos wall tile and asbestos wallboard” (Johns-Manville Corporation), said by Johns-Manville Corporation, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 522

Asbestos Magazine, 1948, November 1948

  • Products made: “asbestos-cement board” (Johns-Manville), p. 183

The J-M Circle, 1929, The J-M Factory Circle, Nashua edition, August 1929

  • Owned or run by: “On December 3, 1907, the H. W. Johns-Manville Company took over the plant as the Asbestos Wood Company” (Johns-Manville), said by The J-M Factory Circle (Nashua edition), as recorded by The J-M Circle, p. 14
  • Workforce: “80 Employees Have Passed Tenth Service Anniversary” (Johns-Manville), said by The J-M Factory Circle (Nashua edition), as recorded by The J-M Circle, p. 14
  • Asbestos products made: “The first rigid asbestos product was flat Transite” (Johns-Manville), said by The J-M Factory Circle (Nashua edition), as recorded by The J-M Circle, p. 14

Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (1990)

  • Operated: “Nashua, New Hampshire (1907 to 1985)” (Johns-Manville), p. 195
  • Products made: “Aegean; Armor-On; Asbestocite; Chemstone; Colorceran; Colorceran Edge Coating; Colorchip; Colored Marine Veneer; Colorlith; Colorlith Chalkboard; Colorthin; Dekeran; Duplex Asbestos Paper; Ebony; Electrobestos; Fireglaze Stonehenge; Flat Transite; Flexboard; Flexboard "B"; Imperial Walls & Beams; Marine Acoustical Unit; Marine Veneer; Marinite 36; Marinite 65; Molded Ebony; Molded Electrobestos; Molded Unit; Ohmstone; Perforated Colored Marine Veneer; Perforated Fiberboard "S"; Perforated Flexboard; Perforated Marine Veneer; Quadro; Santone; Splitwood II; Steam Cured Transite; Stonehenge; Submarine Bulkhead; Textured Transite; Transite Acoustical Panel; Transite Core Plates, Pallets and Slip Jackets; Transite Core Plate Sheets; Venetia” (Johns-Manville), p. 245
  • Dust and health: “Nashua, NH Plant: 4 physician entries” (Johns-Manville), p. 565

Asbestos Magazine, 1950, February 1950

  • Operated: “Johns-Manville industrial products at Nashua, N. H.” (Johns-Manville), p. 426

Asbestos Magazine, 1921, June 1921

  • Description: “planned: plant additions to cost $250,000 to manufacture corrugated asbestos wood” (Asbestos Wood Company (Johns-Manville subsidiary)), said by Asbestos (magazine), as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 637

Other names

Documents call this plant “Nashua Plant”, “Nashua, New Hampshire”, “Nashua, N.H.”, “Nashua, NH Plant”, “Nashua”.

See also

References

  1. The J-M Circle, 1930, February 1930 (February 1, 1930), p. 4.
  2. Asbestos Magazine, 1980, March 1980 (March 1, 1980), p. 52.
  3. Asbestos Magazine, 1948, November 1948 (November 1, 1948), p. 18.
  4. The J-M Circle, 1929, The J-M Factory Circle, Nashua edition, August 1929 (August 1, 1929), p. 1.
  5. Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (February 15, 1990), pp. 19, 24, 56.
  6. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, February 1950 (February 1, 1950), p. 42.
  7. Asbestos Magazine, 1921, June 1921 (June 1, 1921), p. 63.
  8. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, January 1942 (January 1, 1942), p. 27.
  9. J-M News Pictorial, 1961, March 1961 (March 1, 1961), p. 11.
  10. J-M News Pictorial, 1966, November 1966 (November 1, 1966), p. 8.
  11. Asbestos; Publication of Identifying Information (February 13, 1990), p. 15.

Mentioned on this site

Cite this page

“Johns-Manville plant at Nashua, New Hampshire.” AsbestosClaims.Law Library. https://asbestosclaims.law/library/plants/nashua-nh-johns-manville.

ACL Doc numbers and their short links never change. See how to cite the Library.

Talk with an asbestos lawyer

Start with what you remember, and we'll take it from there.

Call 833-4-ASBESTOS Request a free case review

This page is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Every asbestos case turns on its own facts, exposure history, diagnosis, deadlines, available evidence, and applicable law. Reviewing this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, call 833-4-ASBESTOS for a free case review.