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David O. Saylor, President of the Coplay Cement Company, Lehigh County, PA, 1905.
flipFlip to Aerial view of a Lehigh Portland Cement mill, circa 1950.
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Portrait of David O. Saylor, head and shoulders, wearing a suit.

Credit: Courtesy of the Lehigh University

Born and raised in Butztown, PA, David O. Saylor (1827-1884) pioneered the development of portland cement in America. In November of 1943, McCloskey and Co. of Tampa, Florida, named the first concrete ship it launched in his honor. Sailed to England to participate in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the S.S. David O. Saylor was partially sunk off Omaha Beach to form a breakwater for the Allied Invasion Force.

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