Southdown history

In 1932, the Southdown property left the Minor family descendents when it was sold to the sugarcane-growing concern Realty Operators.

In 1948, three years after the conclusion of the war, Realty Operators changed its name to Southdown Sugars, Inc., borrowing the Southdown name from the Southdown sugar cane plantation in Houma, Louisiana.

Acquisitions, beginning in 1969, involved the firm in a variety of building-material and construction operations.

However, the home may not still exist, or at least be open to the public, if a group of Houma-area residents in 1972 did not come together to form the non-profit Terrebonne Historical & Cultural Society (THACS) to ensure that Southdown House would be preserved.

Southdown Sugar-subsidiary Valhi, Inc., which owned the property, donated 4 1/2 acres of land, the house, and the servants’ quarters building to THACS in 1975.

Effective on the last day of 1976, Southdown's new management decided to dispose of the company's soft drink and winery businesses, opting to concentrate on its cement and oil and gas operations.

In early 1977, the net assets of the company's soft drink business, which had been controlled by three subsidiaries, were sold, followed by the divestiture of the company's winery business in May 1977.

Following the decision to exit the business that had defined the company during its formative decades, Southdown sold its Pearl Brewing Co. subsidiary in 1978, ending its involvement in the malt beverage business.

In 1982, however, Medusa left the Crane Co. to once again become an independent corporation.

Following the completion of the Moore McCormack Resources acquisition, Southdown exited the oil and gas business by selling its Pelto Oil Company subsidiary to Energy Development Corp. in 1989, thereby staking the company's future on the successful development of its cement and concrete businesses.

In 1990 the company sought to vertically integrate its cement operations by entering into the hazardous waste processing business, acquiring three processing companies in July and three additional processing companies in September.

Organized into Southdown's environmental services segment, the hazardous waste processing facilities recorded a $16 million dollar loss during their first two-and-a-half years of operation, leading Southdown to restructure the business segment in 1992.

After three years of losses, Southdown's concrete products operations posted $9.3 million in operating earnings, while the company's cement operations recorded growth as well, generating $91.2 million in operating earnings, which represented an 11 percent increase over 1993's total.

By 1995, Medusa employed 90 persons locally and owned 4 cement plants, 10 quarries, and several terminals in 12 states.

Early in 1998, Medusa acquired Commonwealth Stone, a producer of crushed-stone based in Bowling Green, Kentucky.