Rheem Manufacturing Corp.

The elevated parking garage on the western side of Horton street was the birthplace of Rheem Manufacturing Co. founded nearly a century ago.

Because of prohibition and the banning of horse racing across the state, Emeryville was looking to pivot to manufacturing. This site was optimal because of its proximity to both rail transit and the bay.

The first plant at 4535 Horton Street was built in 1925 for the Pacific Galvanizing Company. The initial 15,000 square foot facility was built at a cost of $75,000.

The factory, which manufactured galvanized steel drums, began as a partnership with brothers Richard and Donald Rheem. Richard and Donald were the sons of William S. Rheem, the former president of Standard Oil Company.

Oakland Tribune - April 25, 1926 - Pg. 62

In 1929, Rheem Manufacturing Company was formally organized. An adjacent 28,000 square foot plant at 4549 Horton Street was constructed to expand capacity of the factory.

Rheem also acquired the Republic Steel package company in Richmond who manufactured sheet steel products including boilers and tanks.

Oakland Tribune - Jul 14, 1929 - Pg. 39

In 1932, Rheem closed their Emeryville plant consolidating operations with their Richmond facility.

The Richmond plant was expanded and at this point had a workforce of 225 workers.

Today, Rheem remains the largest manufacturer of water heating products in North America.

The Oakland Post Enquirer - July 28, 1932 - Pg. 20

In 1933, Delaware-based California Container Corporation moved into the factory. CCC manufactured corrugated paper products for canned and packaged goods as well as products for Allied Paper Products. Demand for their products coincided with the emergence of supermarkets.

CCC invested $200,000 in new machinery and equipment and initially hired a workforce of seventy-five employees to start production.

Eventually, CCC expanded, occupying a warehouse at 4599 Horton Street next door to the original plant.

In 1940, CCC acquired Western Containers, Inc. making the organization the second largest manufacturer of corrugated products on the Pacific Coast.

Photo, c. 1934, courtesy Ray Raineri.

In 1946, through an exchange of stock, the Emeryville plant was absorbed by the Container Corporation of America headquartered in Chicago.

This merger expanded CCA’s presence in the West Coast that already included the Los Angeles and Seattle markets.

1951 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map

On March 21, 1966 a massive fire ripped through the block along Horton that at the time was considered “the worst fire in Emeryville’s history.”

More than 100 firemen from Emeryville, Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda County as well as civilian volunteers worked to contain the blaze throughout the night. Plumes of smoke rose 150 feet into the air and forced the closure of the nearby Eastshore freeway and caused dozens of smaller rooftop fires.

Los Angeles Evening Citizen News - Mar 21, 1966 - Pg. 3

Three firemen were injured battling the blaze and three warehouses were destroyed including the CCA warehouse, the Marcel Schurman Company at 4215 Horton and the Sears Electrical Motors plant at Horton and Sherwin.

Favorable winds were credited with preventing the blaze from spreading to the Sherwin-Williams plant that would have dramatically escalated the disaster with their highly flammable products.

The cause of the blaze was never determined but thought to have been ignited in the Sears building.

The Sears Electrical Motors Division plant at Horton and Park succumbed to the blaze on March 20, 1966 (Photo: Emeryville Fire Dept.).

The Container Corporation of America factory was ultimately repaired and the facility was able to resume production.

In 1968, Container Corporation of America merged with the Montgomery Ward department stores, becoming MARCOR. MARCOR in turn merged with Mobil Oil in 1976.

Container Corporation of America built a new plant in Santa Clara in the late 1970s and vacated their Emeryville factory in 1979.

In the 1980s, the building was occupied by The Paper Connection, who sold craft paper products, followed by the PT Hutchins Company, who specialized in the wholesale distribution of chemicals and related products.

In the 1990s, The site was acquired by The City of Emeryville’s Redevelopment Agency. The factory was demolished and the land was remediated from years of industrial use.

1995 Rifkin Building demolition (Photo: Chiron).

The city sold the land to Chiron in the mid-1990s who used it for a surface parking lot and elevated parking garage for their employees.

A new elevated parking garage for the BioMed Realty “Emery Yards” project was built in its place in 2024.