Weiant Greenhouses
Warren S. Weiant was involved in many business ventures in Licking County in the late nineteenth century, including real estate development and home building in the Hudson Ave neighborhood. Weiant continued his interest in real estate development with a purchase of 60+ acres of low-lying, wet land east of Newark in Madison township. Weiant took what seemed to be a poor investment in "swampland" and utilized it in the gcultivation of onions and celery, modelling other agricultural businesses in the Midwest. This adaptability led to the conversion of the Weiant property into greenhouses for growing lettuce. [1] Its five acres of glass structures created one of the largest greenhouses for winter vegetables in Ohio and produced vegetables for market in three neighboring states. [2]
A coal-powered steam plant produced heat for the greenhouses and for neighboring homes in the Marne area. The greenhouses were 575 feet long and 75 feet wide, covering 8 acres of property by 1920 and growing lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The business continued until the 1960s when changing national markets for produce and long-distance shipping made the venture less profitable. The greenhouses left the ownership of the Weiant family in the early 1970s. Storm damage in 1978 brought an end to the business. [3]
J.G.
