Paul J. Sorg and John Auer lead the way for  Middletown's tobacco industry around 1878.  Auer retired from the business in 1884.  By the 1880s, Middletown ranked third in the nation for the production of plug tobacco.   In 1898, the Continental Tobacco Company purchased the Middletown plant.  Mr. Sorg moved on to other interests.  The company eventually became the American Tobacco Company which dissolved into smaller entities.  At this point the P. Lorillard Company (home of Polar Bear Tobacco) took over as the new management and continued its operations until 1951.  Many tobacco warehouses were also present in the area.  Many rode the trains each day from Cincinnati, Hamilton, Woodsdale, Busenbark, and Trenton to work at the factory. At its peak, 1,500 were employed.

 © 2000 by the Butler County Historical Society