The Swann Chemical Company was an American chemical company started by

Theodore Swann Theodore Swann (September 6, 1886 – February 5, 1955) was an American industrialist and early leader of the chemical industry. He was described by one historian as "a flamboyant Birmingham mogul and New South industrialist." Hailing from east T ...

, described by one historian as "a flamboyant Birmingham mogul and New South industrialist." Swann Chemical first operated a chemical manufacturing plant in

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is the county seat of Calhoun County in Alabama and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston-Oxford Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city was 23,106. Ac ...

where

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

were first made on an industrial scale after development of a new process under leadership of Theodore Swann. The plant was later bought by Monsanto Industrial Chemicals Co. in 1935. The plant, just west of Anniston, had around 1,000 employees. One historian wrote that, "In many ways, the spirit of Swann Chemical became the corporate culture of Monsanto."

References

Defunct chemical companies Chemical companies of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Alabama {{Chemical-company-stub