I think I lead you astray. The switch that I have looks like a large
version of a household light switch. The info printed on the switch
is:
"30A 250V AC
20A 600V AC
Motor Ratings 2HP
110-600V AC 3-phase
"manual motor starter"
Arrow-Hart and Hegeman Elec. Co
Hartford, Conn USA"
based on the responses to this post, I have decided to use it with my
single phase 2 hp motor.

Thanks,
Andy