The Chicago Malleable Iron Co. was founded 1873 by Alfred A. Pope and John C. Coonley, who operated similar companies in Ohio and Indiana. By the late 1880s, the company emp loyed nearly 1,000 men at its 26th and Western Chicago works, which made metal products for the railroad, farm wagon, and horse-drawn carriage industries. In 1891, Chicago Malleable became part of the new National Malleable Castings Co., a Cleveland-based company with plants across the Midwest. At the turn of the century, the Chicago plant had about 2,000 workers. National Malleable purchased the Latrobe Steel & Coupler Co.'s plant in Melrose Park, Illinois in 1909. In 1923, when it had begun to supply the automobile industry, the company changed its name to National Malleable & Steel Castings Co. Its stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange beginning in 1936, but company employees continued to own a large portion of National Malleable. By the early 1950s, when it still had plants in Cicero and Melrose Park, the company employed nearly 6,000 workers across the nation and had annual sales of over $50 million. In 1961, the company changed its name to National Castings and, in 1965, was absorbed by Midland-Ross. In 1985, Midland-Ross divested itself of the former company, which returned to Chicago as National Castings Inc. and continued to operate the plants in Cicero and Melrose Park.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.