S &C Electric is hard to miss. Basically, they own nearly all the land from Ridge east to the Metra tracks. Although they don't use the train anymore (as far as I can tell) there's still a spur line leading down into their loading areas.
S & C was formed as Schweitzer and Conrad, Inc in 1911, building on their invention of a safety fuse that could prevent overload of electrical utilities. In 1947 they bought 6 acres along Ridge for new facilties. By 1971 they had expanded to fill nearly 50 acres. In 2002 they enlarged their Rogers Park plant along Pratt Avenue. You can follow their history in more detail on their website.
I'm fascinated by how much history these companies include on their sites. I need to get some good recommendations for books about industrial history and architecture.
