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H&S source-led workplace research · Western New York

Chevrolet Motor Division — Tonawanda

An official archived DII Trust Exhibit A row gives us a specific place-and-time anchor. The useful next step is to connect that anchor to the person's actual employer, trade, department, tasks and remembered equipment.

DII record 3100802HAL1944-01-01–1982-12-31
Documented here

What the archived Exhibit A row records

Site

Chevrolet Motor Division

Location

Tonawanda, New York

Trust-specific listing

HAL · 1944-01-01 through 1982-12-31

Worksite orientation

What workers may remember about Chevrolet Tonawanda

General Motors describes the Tonawanda complex as an engine and propulsion plant that opened in 1938 as the Chevrolet Motor and Axle Plant. It initially built six-cylinder engines and axles, converted to aircraft-engine production during World War II, and later became known for Chevrolet big-block and other engine programs.

Those ordinary production changes can be powerful memory anchors. A former worker or contractor may remember the aviation-engine building, engine assembly lines, machining areas, Plant No. 5, a particular engine family, shutdown work or a period of expansion even when an exact building number has been forgotten.

Timeline

Tonawanda — memory anchors

1937–1938

GM broke ground and opened the Chevrolet Motor and Axle Plant, initially producing six-cylinder engines and axle assemblies.

1942–1945

Civilian production gave way to wartime work, including Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines in a large aviation-engine facility on the property.

1950s–1960s

Tonawanda returned to automotive engines and produced multiple six-cylinder and V-8 families, including the Chevrolet big-block era.

1971

A new assembly building was added as Plant No. 5, expanding the manufacturing footprint.

1990s–2000s

The plant moved through the GM Powertrain era with major investments and new engine programs.

Today

The facility operates as Tonawanda Propulsion and remains an active GM manufacturing site.

GM history of Tonawanda Propulsion →

Use the record to help reconstruct the work history

What do you remember?

When were they there?Compare remembered years with the source-listed period before drawing any connection.
Who employed them?Identify the employer or contractor rather than assuming the site owner was the employer.
What work did they actually do?Mechanics, Industrial maintenance are research prompts here, not conclusions about a particular worker.
What area, equipment or materials are remembered?Those details determine which additional records, products, coworkers or source sets are worth investigating.
Historical record to explore. This page preserves an archived official trust-site row so the memory can be investigated against a defined place and period.

Primary source and next paths

Archived DII Exhibit A site list ↗   Current DII documents ↗

Western New York research →   New York DII site archive →   Exposure Atlas →