NACCO Industries history

1916-17 First underground coal mines are purchased in southern Ohio

With the United States in the war by 1917, the demand for coal was high and the time ripe for Cleveland and Western to acquire three mines, to be followed by others.

By 1931 the Powhatan Mine grew into the largest underground mining operation in the state of Ohio.

Taplin died in 1938 and was succeeded by the company’s treasurer Larry Larsen, though the Taplin remained as the majority owners of the North American Coal Corporation.

By 1942, however, a new president had taken the helm: the energetic, able Henry G. Schmidt, who left his engineering position at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to guide NACCO back to prosperity during the war years, and to postwar expansion thereafter.

The company’s stock was traded publicly for the first time in an over-the-counter offering in 1956.

1957 NACCO acquires its first lignite field in North Dakota.

1961 The North American Coal Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange

1964 The first “management fee” coal mining agreement is signed, establishing a new business model for North American Coal

In 1972 NACCO committed itself to provide the Michigan Wisconsin Pipeline Company with billions of tons of coal from its North Dakota reserves, which would be turned into liquified gas.

With lignite coal mining playing an increasingly important role, NACCO turned its North Dakota and Texas operations in 1974 into a separate operation, the Western Division.

By 1976, the company assembled more than four billion tons of lignite reserves.

In anticipation, NACCO pledged to build the first major coal gasification plant in the nation, to be completed in 1981.

In May 1986 the alteration was complete: the company would no longer be a coal-mining company with its entire profit derived from the manufacture and sale of coal, but instead would become a holding company.

The increasing emphasis on these western operations for the company was reflected in a major restructuring, which resulted in the relocation of North American Coal to Dallas, TX, in 1987, while the parent company, NACCO Industries (formed the previous year), remained in Cleveland.

1988 North American Coal exits the Eastern underground mining business

By 1990 the coal company, consisting of its own wholly owned subsidiaries Falkirk Mining Co., Coteau Properties, Sabine Mining Company, and the newest, Red River Mining Company, trimmed its staff by 30 percent and decentralized its operations to its individual mines.

Together, housewares (Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex and The Kitchen Collection) generated 10 percent of NACCO's profit in 1991.

1994 North American Coal diversifies into limestone mining in Florida, and subsequently creates North American Mining

In 1997, production began at a Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex plant in Mexico.

By 1999, NACCO Industries topped the PLAIN DEALER'S top ten list of performing companies in Northeast Ohio with total revenues of $2.5 billion.

2000 North American Coal acquires an interest in two lignite mining companies and a stake in 640 million tons of undeveloped lignite coal reserves.

Overall, the company posted a $36 million loss in 2001 mainly due to charges related to its restructuring and downsizing initiatives.

Profit climbed even higher in 2003, reaching $52.8 million.

As of the year 2011, the total revenue generated by the company is more than $3.3 billion.

2015 Coal expansion continues as North American Coal enters into a new management fee mining agreement with the Navajo Transitional Energy Company

North American Coal’s Freedom Mine is awarded the Sentinels of Safety Award for being the safest, large-surface coal mine in the nation in 2016