National Carbon Company

The National Carbon Company was a dominant American manufacturer of batteries and lighting products in the early 20th century. It was the first company to successfully manufacture and distribute sealed dry cell batteries on a large scale.

It was founded in 1886 in Cleveland, Ohio, by Washington H. Lawrence, a former Brush Electric Company executive; banker and Cleveland politician Myron T. Herrick; James Parmelee; and Webb Hayes, son of U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1889, it absorbed 10 other companies, subsuming "the entire active carbon industry of the United States and three-quarters of the carbon industry of the world." In 1906, it invested in what became the Eveready Battery Company, which it purchased in 1914.

Three years later, National Carbon was acquired by Union Carbide.