Courtesy Paul Post
By Paul Post
One of Warren County’s oldest companies is celebrating its 175th anniversary while looking ahead to its bicentennial as it continues to grow and find new markets.
More than 100 employees, customers and community leaders recently honored Glens Falls-based Jointa Lime Company at a gala reception at The Hyde Collection.
The event included a documentary on the company’s history and a certificate from Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner recognizing its inclusion in the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry.
“Reaching 200 years is not even a question, in my mind,” said David Collins, D.A. Collins Companies president. “It’s something we’re committed to and focused on. Rest on our laurels? If we did that the future would be questionable, but we reinvest constantly in our people and processes. We continue to explore best practices, cutting edge technology and how we can implement them in the future.”
“We look at opportunities to expand the business, not just for the sake of growth, but to expand smartly,” he said. “We look for the next steps are going to carry us into the next 25 years and beyond.”
Jointa Lime is a subsidiary of Wilton-based D.A. Collins, which acquired it in 1988.
Irish immigrant John Keenan, an expert in quarrying, stonework and lime production, launched Jointa 10 years before the Civil War with local business leader Halsey R. Wing, a descendant of Glens Falls founder Abraham Wing.
Before joining Wing, Keenan mined limestone in Smith’s Basin and burned it in kilns to produce lime shipped south on the Champlain Canal to Albany and New York City markets.
In 1851, Keenan joined Wing, an attorney, to build a business around rich limestone deposits along the Hudson River near present-day Warren Street in Glens Falls. Lime was then an essential ingredient for masons.
“They didn’t have ready-mix concrete so they used lime for mortar mix,” said John Davidson, Jointa Lime vice president. “Keenan and Wing had numerous kilns, bought out others and with the few they didn’t, formed Associated Lime Companies in Glens Falls, to market product in New York City. Jointa, the highest grade, was desired by all masons.”
Lime also neutralized horse manure on city streets, smoothed wire during manufacturing and bleached paper.
It remains an ingredient in many products, including toothpaste.
By the late 19th century, however, lime had lost favor as a building material after the introduction of stronger, more reliable Portland cement, named for Portland stone from the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England.
Jointa Lime adapted by founding Glens Falls Cement Company in 1893, operating it for 10 years and then selling it.
The company later reinvented itself by focusing on crushed stone and aggregate production as construction needs changed.
“We survived many recessions, depressions, booms and busts,” Davidson said. “With such great people in our offices and quarries we got through it.”
Jointa Lime now employs more than 100 people and operates six hard-rock quarries in Washington, Saratoga, Clinton and Essex counties; gravel operations in Saratoga and Washington counties; asphalt plants in Newburgh, Plattsburgh and Saratoga; and ready-mix concrete plants in Saratoga and Glens Falls. The Glens Falls plant operates as Jointa Galusha on Lower Warren Street.
The facilities supply D.A. Collins with materials for public and private projects ranging from major interstate highway work to hydroelectric facilities that generate clean, renewable power.
At The Hyde Collection program, Collins and Davidson joined Richard Keenan, a descendant of Jointa Lime’s co-founder, for a panel discussion moderated by Hyde board Chair Mark Behan. Keenan traveled from Northern Ireland for the event.
Glens Falls Mayor Diana Palmer presented Collins with a proclamation recognizing Jointa Lime’s 175th anniversary.
Collins, the third-generation leader of his family-owned company, credits much of its success to the firm’s close-knit camaraderie.