Before the building was bought by Colgate, it served as the Indiana Reformatory South.

In 1919 a fire broke out in the prison, causing extensive damage that would have been very expensive to repair.

Colgate happened to be looking for a Midwestern location following the post-World War I boom, and heard of the prison's availability.

Colgate-Palmolive planned to close it in 2008, moving its operations to Tennessee and Mexico, and the site is in a choice area for developers, as it is just across the river from Louisville, with easy access to I-65.

Colgate refused an offer to put the factory on the National Register of Historic Places, which would mean funds from the Indiana Department of Transportation due to the Ohio River Bridges Project.