The Town that Airstream Built

Jackson Center, Ohio

Jackson Center, Ohio, is a very small village about an hour northwest of Columbus. Basically, the village is a just the crossroad of two streets, out in the middle of nowhere with a population of about 1,400. These crossroads also happen to be the only traffic light in the village. Remarkably, there is no Starbucks, no McDonalds, no Walmart, and no etc… However, Jackson Center does not need any of those amenities. The only thing that Jackson Center needs is Airstream Inc. Airstream Inc. is the iconic travel trailer manufacturer that has been operating here since 1931. There are more employees working for Airstream (i.e. 1,500) than residents in Jackson Center. In reality, Jackson Center is a modern day “company town,” but in a nice way.

Airstream from End to End

As you drive down the half mile, east/west road that makes up all of Jackson Center, it is Airstream Inc. on display. You will pass many Airstream buildings, including the headquarters, travel trailer plant, touring coach plant, factory service center, warehousing, R&D, and a couple others that I missed. In Jackson Center, you either work for Airstream, or you work for someone that depends on Airstream for their livelihood. As Airstream is the only show in town, tourism is not big in Jackson Center. However, there is one exception. The Airstream folks offer the only public tourism in Jackson Center through multiple factory tours daily. And, the tour is excellent and it’s free! That’s all I needed to hear. I rounded up my 9th grade English teacher and we were on the road to Jackson Center.

Doing the Tour

The Airstream travel trailer plant is how all American manufacturing ought to be. With very few outsourcing exceptions, the entire assembly is done inside the massive 750,000 manufacturing floor. The process starts when the USA sourced, sheet aluminum comes into the plant. Then, these sheets are cut, shaped and riveted to make the iconic, shiny aluminum haul.

As we were told many times, the travel trailer is built from the outside-in. Apparently, that is what “makes Airstream superior” to all the run of the mill, “white box” manufacturers. The “white box” slur is the derogatory term Airstream employees use for all other RV competitors. Anyway, once the aluminum shell is built, sealed, wired, tested, and whatever… it gets placed on the trailer.

Since the travel trailer is built from the outside-in, all the interior build out is has to be assembled in small pieces. Anything in the interior has to pass through the main 27″ door. There is no big, pre-built cabinets that are dropped in place. It’s small piece after small piece…assembled by hand within the interior.

On average, it takes about 360 man hours to make each travel trailer. While I have done no research on this subject, the Airstream folks sure made a believer out of me that they are the gold standard for travel trailer quality. Just saying…

And a Museum too…

If the tour was not enough, you can visit the Airstream museum after the tour. However, the museum is $5. A fact that we only discovered after we had finished walking through the whole museum. The Airstream is build to last. The museum walks you through the travel trailer evolution since 1931.

Wrap It Up

Historically, the “company town” term was used for the old mining or logging operations. This arrangement was typically not a good thing for the workers. However, in the case of Jackson Center, the term “company town” seems to be a good thing. From the workers we chatted with, Airstream is greatly appreciated by the masses. Pay is fair. Benefits are good. Airstream not only provides health care. But, the company has internal health services for employees and their dependents. If your kid gets sick, you just take him into Airstream. To get people to live in Jackson Center, Airstream must be a great company to work for. Jackson Center, Ohio, is the town that Airstream built. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “The Town that Airstream Built” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks.

If you like factory tours, here is my favorite so far… https://travelingwithpt.com/nfl-football-factory-made-in-usa/

If you want to plan your tour of Airstream, here you go https://www.airstream.com/company/factory-tours/