This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

The Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) is capitalized at about $40 billion dollars and produces a multitude of household and industrial products that probably touch most Americans lives in some way. It is the largest chemical company in the U.S. and number two worldwide (ahead of ExxonMobil and behind BASF), and it is also a leader in performance plastics.

On May 18, 1897, Dow Chemical incorporated, based on Herbert H. Dow's plan to manufacture and sell bleach on a commercial scale. A year later they were in full-scale commercial production. The Dow-in-diamond mark was created to help resolve product shipping problems. In 1900, the Midland Chemical Company merged into Dow Chemical.

The company was always evolving under the guidance of Mr. Dow, who in 1913 announced the company would exit the bleach business to refocus to the value of chlorine as a raw material, prompting Dow stock to rise dramatically.