Ault and Wiborg Company

Early History

The Ault & Wiborg Company on East 7th Street in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio was constructed in 1930 on the western fringe of the central business district for the Queen City Printing Company.(1) The 57,159 square-foot structure was home to multiple businesses and industries over the years, and was demolished in 2009.

It is surmised that the Queen City Printing Company was a later name for the Ault & Wiborg Company, a manufacturer of printing inks and dry color dyes and pigments that was established in 1878.(2) Founded in part by the Ontario-born Levi Addison Ault, he left home in his late teens to work for a railroad and as a bookkeeper in Wisconsin. After his brother moved to Cincinnati, he followed suit in 1876, working with a dealer “in lampblack, pitch and rosins.” Ault eventually became their top salesman, which gave Ault the inspiration to start an ink manufacturing business.

The other founder, Frank Bestow Wiborg, was born in Cleveland, Ohio who left the city for Cincinnati where he was admitted to the Chickering Institute, a select college preparatory academy.(2) He graduated in 1874 and eventually worked as a salesman for Ault.

Ault, seeking an investor for his ink manufacturing business proposal, sought Wiborg who was willing to put forth $10,000 in capital to jumpstart operations.(2) The Ault & Wiborg Company was founded in July 1878 as a producer of inks and lithograph supplies, which became immensely successful that expanded its operations worldwide. Its first location was a small building on New Street. The motto of Ault & Wiborg was, “Hic et Ubique,” which translated to “Here and Everywhere.” The company was helped by the the use of coal-tar dyes to produce brightly colored inks, which revolutionized the printing industry.

Growth

In the early 1900s, a larger ink plant was constructed in St. Bernard near the current-day Proctor & Gamble factory.(2) A varnish department was formed in 1905 in a newly built factory in Norwood, which supplied coatings, lacquers, varnishes and finishes for metal products. Wiborg left the company in 1906 to pursue personal interests.

During World War I, Ault & Wiborg sought to duplicate the manufacturer of imported German dyes and intermediates as the conflict brought a disruption of trade between the two nations.(2) The dye manufacturing plant was significantly expanded upon, and soon overshadowed the varnish component.

In 1920, the Ault & Wiborg dye factories in St. Bernard and Norwood were sold to Ciba, Geigy and Sandoz, a Swiss coglomerate.(2) The ink and varnish departments were not affected. The new dye company became known as the Cincinnati Chemical Works, which was incorporated in Delaware. Ault remained a director with the Works until just before its 50th anniversary in 1928, when he sold his interest to the Swiss.

At that time, Ault sold the ink business for $14 million to the International Printing Ink Corporation, which later became known as the Interchemical Corporation.(2) According to the Hamilton County Auditor, the building was officially transferred to the Interchemical Corporation on December 30, 1948.(1)

Sale and Decline

On October 13, 1969, the property was transferred to the Clopay Corporation. Clopay was established in Cincinnati in 1859 as the Seinsheimer Paper Company, which sold paper products and other sundries in the region. The acronym “Clopay” was later used in the early 20th century, formed by the contraction of the words cloth and paper.(3) In 1964, Clopay entered the garage door business with the purchase of Baker-Aldor-Jones of Hialeah, Florida, and today it is the largest manufacturer of garage doors in North America.

The property did not stay with Clopay for long, as the building was transferred to Frye Copysystems on December 18, 1973.(1) It was then transferred to Henry Tollman III and Raymond B. Fine one decade later on December 30.

The property was listed as an Ohio Superfund Site (#OHD072874282) on August 11, 1997.(4)

The last transfer occured on February 14, 2007 when the 417 E. 7th Street, LLC was formed, of which Tollman and Fine were members.(1) The structure contained one parking level, while the remainder was listed as storage.(1)

It was included in a 30-year tax-increment-financing abatement on December 2, 2004, which expires in 2032.(1) Demolition on the property began in October 2009.