Once upon a time, whispers echoed from the Entrée de 2de masse Carrières Tessier et Poliet & Chausson. This is not just any entrance. It is a portal to a past defined by industry and ambition. This place whispers tales of Poliet & Chausson.
Imagine venturing into the heart of Paris. Here lies an abandoned adit dating back to the 19th century. It is a relic of the Carrières Tessier et Poliet & Chausson mine. Gypsum was extracted here.
Poliet & Chausson began in 1901. Léon Chausson, Jules Poliet and Paul Lapareillé founded it. They specialized in producing lime, cement, and plaster. Léon led the company. Jules provided crucial financial support.
The company expanded quickly. They operated in Beffes and the Paris region. Plaster production started in 1899 at Gagny and Gournay-sur-Marne. An experimental plaster factory was built in Livry-Gargan.
During World War I, Poliet & Chausson grew. They bought factories. They increased production. In 1917, they built a large cement factory in Gargenville. This helped with reconstruction after the war.
After World War I, the company boomed. They acquired several plaster quarries. These included the Vaujours quarry. In 1925, they installed new rotary kilns. These revolutionized plaster manufacturing. They normalized products. “Cygne” became the brand for molding plaster. “Paris” was for construction plaster.
By 1930, production reached 1.7 million tons of cement. This surpassed lime and plaster. The company had 40 production units. They had a national distribution network. Their fleet included 250 barges.
The global economic crisis hit in 1931. Reduced consumption and overproduction hurt the business. Léon Chausson ceded control to Banque Lazard to avoid bankruptcy. After Léon’s death in 1933, new leadership took over.
During World War II, the company’s activities paused. The Nazis occupied France. Banque Lazard sold its stake. Henri Chausson became president. He was later punished for collaborating with occupying forces.
After the war, Raoul Kern and later Pierre Gillet led the company. By 1946, Poliet & Chausson regained pre-war production levels. They helped found Placoplatre. This aimed to develop plasterboard in France.
In 1968, Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas became the main shareholder. Louis Monteilhet restructured the company. They divested their cement business. In the 1970s, Poliet & Chausson focused on construction material sales.
In 1971, the company became a holding company named Poliet. Subsidiaries managed industrial and commercial activities. Saint-Gobain acquired the group in 1996.
Poliet & Chausson owned Société des Ciments Français. They also owned SAMC and Weber et Broutin. They were behind Lapeyre and Point P. Point P unified the brand of their material distribution network in 1979.
Today, the Entrée de 2de masse Carrières Tessier et Poliet & Chausson stands abandoned. Yet it symbolizes French industrial history. It connects us to the entrepreneurs who built a nation. It also reminds us of economic shifts. It echoes with the echoes of innovation and resilience.