Claude E. Van Houten, who retired recently after 47 years’ service, has seen Kodak Park expand from four buildings on a 10-acre site to 83 main buildings on 400 acres of ground. From “Kodak A Magazine For Eastman Employees,” August 1938. Provided by Derek VanHouten.My Grandfather was born in 1873 and in 1891 George Eastman hired him to work at the Eastman Company, which many of you know is now or was the Eastman Kodak Company. He was the 13th employee and worked there for 47 years.
At first, he was the only draftsman that the company had; when he retired in 1938 he was the Assistant Superintendent of the old ECM&U (Electrical Construction Maintenance and Utilities Division). In the early days he was responsible for several tasks, such as the location of water wells on the property, overseeing the construction of the early buildings, handling the Assistant Fire Chief (duties) for the in-house Fire Brigade and other responsibilities. I started work at Kodak in 1966 and worked there for 32 years in the Construction Division.
During his time at Kodak he faithfully kept a diary of daily events of which I can remember a few of the entries. He lived on Albermiale Street off Lake Avenue. He wrote about crossing the fields to get to work back in the 1890s. One of his jobs was to do the final inspection of the twin smokestacks in the Park. There is a picture of him standing on top of one of the chimneys at its completion. In 1905, he was called to the property on East Avenue to fix a pump in the barn at (the George Eastman House). After he made the repair, George Eastman took him in a horsedrawn sleigh down East Avenue with a Buffalo robe over their laps for a ride. Many years later while we were visiting the Eastman House I happened to ask what happened to the barn. I was very surprised when they told me that is was still in use and was located in the back area of the estate.
Recently I gave to the Rare Books Department of the University of Rochester the collection of diaries, pictures, and binders of material that my Grandfather collected during his life at Kodak. It is under the title of the C. E. VanHouten Collection and now can be viewed by everyone.
Derek VanHouten
Rochester
