Company History | Company HQ Photos | Historical Highlights | Current Events

Union Hide Company started out in 1906 with just a horse and wagon. The company's founder, Kalman Gluck, would go to the farms in the bay area buying used burlap feed bags and the cattle hides that the farms had slaughtered.

In 1912, UHC bought the property at Third & Harrison Streets in Oakland, California and built a three-story brick building. The second and third floors were used to vacuum, clean, and patch the used burlap bags. The first floor was used for office and warehouse.

The basement was used as a hide cellar. Being below the ground level, the temperature remained cool and constant during the winter and summer months.

Around 1951, a large brick building was built along side of the three-story building. This new building was used for curing green hides and for hide storage. The hide cellar in the basement of the three-story building then became an area exclusively for the curing and grading of calfskins.

In 1963, a hide processing plant was built in Modesto, California. UHC built in this location because it was centrally located in the San Joaquin Valley where many slaughterhouses were located within reasonable driving distance of the plant.

By 1988, UHC had discontinued using the warehouse in Oakland, California. It was sold and UHC moved to the current location in Walnut Creek, California.