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History of industries

The “industry” of Turkish Constanța was represented by several wind mills that were remained functional by the mid-1890s. Until the connection of Dobrudja to Romania by means of the bridge across the Danube (1895), local industry remained in an undeveloped state and was reduced to the local agro-pastoral resources.

Several tanneries were somehow larger, such as that of the Ciricliano brothers (1881), who had about 100 workers, engines developing a force of 150 horse power and an annual production worth of 200,000 lei. In 1879 G. Sapatino established a tannery in the neighbouring village of Anadolchioi [1], which in 1881 was taken over by Dracopulos and Mavroghenio; a year later it became the “Romanian Tannery” Society, and in 1898 was given for sale to the municipality [2].

The same agro-pastoral raw materials were used in a factory of spirits (1880), the brewery of Julius Gruber (1884), a factory of suet (1884) [3], a factory of spirits of Th. Dracopulos (1887), the soap and candles factories of A. Cohen (1889) and of Paraschiva Cochino (1895) [4].

Table 4.1.5.1_1

The industry in Constanța County in Early 20^th Century

	Factories supported by the state	Unsupported	Plants	Total
Constanţa	6	3	5	14

In early 20^th century, the large industry consisted of Gruber’s brewery (16 employees), “Steaua Română” Factory of oil barrels (established in 1897, with 129 employees), G. I. Rignall Mechanical Workshop (established in 1897, working on agricultural machines with 18 employees), V. P. Murelli mill (11 employees), The Railway Workshop (84 employees), Fratelli Bach rice triturator (four employees) [5]. By 1907, the situation was as follows: Murelli’s Mill – three engines, 15 workers; M. Zamfirescu’s flour plant – an engine and six workers; Al. Cosma’s Triturator – 8 workers; Gruber’s brewery – an engine and six workers; “Steaua Română” Factory – an engine and 75 workers; Solomon Israel’s Barrels Factory – an engine and 29 workers; Karchel Brothers’ Rope Factory – six workers; G. Marcarian’s Factory of Gaseous Water – five workers; G. I. Rignald Mechanical Workshop – an engine and seven workers; I. D. Caraghiozu Cooper Workshop – an engine and five workers; Hagianoff & Câmpeanu and Aquilla Franco–Română oil refineries [6].

The food industry consisted of several mills (such as that of V. P. Murelli – 1880) and triturators for grain and rice, as well as small breweries, vegetal oil factories, suet factories.

The metallic industry consisted of a factory of barrels and oil tubs established in 1897, and Solomon Israel & Co. opened a factory of barrels and wrappings in 1906. The chemical industry witnessed a great development after the construction of the new harbour and of its oil exporting section, and several refineries were established in the area (Hagianoff, Câmpeanu, Aquila Franco–Română – 1904) [7]. In 1903 the Desmarais Freres of Paris required the permission to build a factory of vegetal oil, soap, oil and its derivatives. In 1905 the Romanian–American Society intended to establish several oil reservoirs and to open a factory. Similar initiatives belonged to the companies of “Ruzica, Elias taibes” and “Astra Română” which in 1911 wanted to establish oil tanks and deposits, as well as factories of barrels, cans or oil. The municipality received similar requests from Paul Vilmosy of Bucharest, “Mouisels Petroleum Limited”, Alexandru Flacks, A. Schautzer, Jean L. Marcus, “Societatea anonimă pentru industria şi comerţul petrolului Saturn”. Until World War One in the oil station there were built 39 stowage reservoirs, six lines for receiving cisterns, the pumps house, and the pipeline that linked the petrol station to Băicoi (in Prahova County, near the Carpathian Mountains) was close to inauguration [8].

The mechanical industry consisted of several workshops, such as that established in 1860 for the British rail company [9], whereas the textile industry was at its very beginnings.

[1]Din tezaurul documentar dobrogean, edited by Marin Stanciu (Bucharest: Direcţia Generală a Arhivelor Statului din RSR, 1988), 63; Constantin M. Boncu, Natalia Boncu, Constanţa. Contribuţii la istoricul oraşului (Bucharest: Editura Litere, 1979), 40–43.

[2] Mariana Cojoc, Constanţa – port internaţional. Comerţ exterior al României prin portul Constanţa 1878–1939 (Bucharest: Cartea Universitară, 2006), 57–58.

[3]Din tezaurul, 108.

[4]Din tezaurul, 198; Constantin Şerban, Victoria Şerban, “Începuturi de modernizare în oraşul Constanţa (1878–1900)”, Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei (Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Naţională şi Arheologie, 1980), vol. I, 61–62.

[5] Cojoc, Constanţa, 58–59.

[6]Ibid., 59–60; the situation in 1900 in “Buletinul Camerei de Comerciu şi Industrie, Circ. X Constanţa”, 11:3 (June 1900), 7 (a weaving factory, one of macaroni, one of flour, one of basalt, 3 of bricks, one of soap, one of gaseous water, one of ropes, a brewery, Steaua Română, five mills).

[7] "Progresele realizate în Dobrogea în timp de 50 de ani în industrie și comerț”, in vol. 1878–1928. Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de vieaţă românească (Bucharest: Cultura Naţională, 1928), 580; Constantin Cheramidoglu, “Aşezarea industriei petroliere la Constanţa (1897–1916)”, in vol. Studii istorice dobrogene, edited by Valentin Ciorbea (Constanţa: Editura Ovidius University Press, 2003), 104.

[8] Cheramidoglu, “Aşezarea”, 104–113.

[9] “Progresele”, 579–581.

References

Archival sources:

Serviciul Judeţean Constanţa al Arhivelor Naţionale (The National Archives, Constanţa Branch), Primăria municipiului Constanţa (The Municipality of Constanţa), files starting with 1878.

Bibliography:

Ancheta industrială din 1901–1902, vol. I, Industria Mare [The Industrial Census of 1901–1902, vol. I, The Large Industry (Bucharest: Inst. de Arte Grafice “Carol Göbl, 1904).

“Progresele realizate în Dobrogea în timp de 50 de ani în industrie și comerț” [The Progress in Dobrudja in the Last 50 Years in Industry and Trade], in vol. 1878–1928. Dobrogea. Cincizeci de ani de vieaţă românească [1878–1928. Dobrudja. Fifty Years of Romanian Life] (Bucharest: Cultura Naţională, 1928).

Boncu, Constantin M., Boncu, Natalia, Constanţa. Contribuţii la istoricul oraşului [Constanţa. Contributions to the History of the City] (Bucharest: Editura Litere, 1979).

Cheramidoglu, Constantin, “Aşezarea industriei petroliere la Constanţa (1897–1916)” [The Settlement of the Oil Industry at Constanţa (1897–1916)], in vol. Studii istorice dobrogene [Historical Studies on Dobrudja], edited by Valentin Ciorbea (Constanţa: Ovidius University Press, 2003), 104–113.

Cojoc, Mariana , Constanţa – port internaţional. Comerţ exterior al României prin portul Constanţa 1878–1939 [Constanţa – International Port. Romania’s Foreign Trade through the Port of Constanţa 1878–1939] (Bucharest: Cartea Universitară, 2006).

Din tezaurul documentar dobrogean, edited by Marin Stanciu [Tresure of Documents on Dobrudja], edited by Marin Stanciu (Bucharest: Direcţia Generală a Arhivelor Statului din RSR, 1988).

Şerban, Constantin, Şerban, Victoria, “Începuturi de modernizare în oraşul Constanţa (1878–1900)” [Beginnings of Modernisation in Constanţa City (1878–1900)], Comunicări de istorie a Dobrogei [Papers on the History of Dobrudja] (Constanţa: Muzeul de Istorie Naţională şi Arheologie, 1980), vol. I, 57–70.

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