During the 20th century, the Whitacre company fortunes climbed to four peaks, hopefully we are just starting up No. 5, and descended sharply into three valleys. It is improbable that the company could have survived the losses brought on by falls into the valleys without the substantial land assets purchased in the first years of the century by the Whitacre and Greer-Beatty Companies. Much of the land was purchased for $15 per acre. Coal reserves, oil and gas discoveries, landfill regulation and appreciation of the land itself provided substantial infusions of cash when assets were sold.
Another building block in the original foundation was the people, mostly Italian and blacks, who came to the Waynesburg/Magnolia area, lived in and bought the many homes build by JJ, and did the work in the plants. In the second half of the century, the children and grandchildren, often two or three children from every original family, were employed at WG. Many of these folks, in both hourly and salaried positions, brought a positive attitude of determination and spirit to the work force. I am sure the efforts of the families Costello, Cheek, Cascioli, Henderson, Longo, Allen, Trilli, McNeal, DiDente, Biggums, Marino, Massey and more were vital to WG living out the century. When the Waynesburg/Magnolia factories finally closed, many of these people had to move to other work.
