- Hawthorne Works
The Hawthorne Works, in
Cicero, Illinois , was a large factory complex built byWestern Electric starting in 1905 and operating until 1983. It had 45,000 employees at the height of its operations. Besides telephone equipment, the factory produced a wide variety of consumer products, including refrigerators and electric fans. Hawthorne Works was named for Hawthorne, Illinois, a small town that was later incorporated into Cicero. The facility was so expansive, it contained a private railroad to move shipments through the plant to the nearbyBurlington Northern Railroad freight depot. Workers regularly used bicycles for transit within the plant. It was demolished in the mid-1980s and replaced with a shopping center. One of the original towers remained at the corner of 22nd Street and Cicero Ave.In addition to its enormous output of telephone equipment, Hawthorne Works was the site of some well-known industrial studies. The
Hawthorne effect is named for the works.References
*cite web
url = http://www.assemblymag.com/CDA/Archives/0cdaaa2e0d5c9010VgnVCM100000f932a8c0____
title = The Hawthorne Works
accessdate = 2007-03-24
last = Weber
first = Austin
authorlink =
date = August 1, 2002
work = Assembly MagazineExternal links
* [http://www.porticus.org/bell/westernelectric_history.html Western Electric History]
* [http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/2900.html Western Electric Co., from Encyclopedia of Chicago]
* [http://www.morton.edu/museum/index.html Hawthorne Works Museum]
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