By Russell McCauley
Repository Staff Writer
AULTMAN - The death knell of this small community, just west of Greentown, was heard last week when cranes ripped the
roof from the old train station.
The village slowly has been dying for the last 30 years according to Martin Schleis, 71, one
of the few remaining residents.
At one time, as many as 500 workers were employed by the National Fireproofing Co., the village's
only industry.
The firm was a major producer of conduit and tile for Western Electric, with main offices in
Pittsburgh.
Clay pulled from the hills around Aultman and used by the firm was reported to be the best grade
of clay in the nation.
Many employees of the plant and their families, who made up the village, lived in "company houses"
called "round" and "square" houses.
Other employees of the firm lived in Greentown and surrounding villages.
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When the firm closed its doors, the village began to die. The
"company houses" began to deteriorate and, within the last several years, have been leveled, as was the firm.
The population has dropped from around 1,000, when the village was in its prime, to the members
of a few remaining families.
The residents left to seek employment elsewhere.
With roads improving all the time, it was easy for former employees of the firm to travel to
North Canton or Canton in search of better jobs, Mr. Schleis said. "They usually found them and never came back to Aultman,"
he added.
Mr. Schleis has lived in Aultman since 1913. His nine children all grew up here. He says he
has no plans for moving.
But most of his children, like so many others, have left.
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station was the hub around which much of the former business
of the village was conducted.
A train which arrived at 5:55
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a.m. each morning from Canton was called the "milk and produce run." Farmers brought their milk and farm-grown goods
to the station for shipment to the markets.
At noon a train stopped with the mail and two other trains picked up the wares from the fireproofing
firm.
Now, very few trains rumble through Aultman and practically none stops here according to Mr.
Schleis.
"When the firm closed, it was like a plague hit the village," he exclaimed.
He added, "There never was much happening here anyway as far as recreational activities went.
In its prime, two little stores and a beer joint was about all there was ... and they ain't here any more," he said.
"When they knocked that train terminal roof off that was it for Aultman," Mr. Schleis said.
"There isn't anything left here but a few old folks."
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