Findlay Automobile Manufacturing 1910's A Grant Car that was manufactured in Findlay, circa 1915. The company first made a two-passenger, four-cylinder roadster; then a six-cylinder coupe, a cabriolet and a racing car. Photo  courtesy of Hancock Historical Museum In 1909, race car driver Barney Oldfield exhibited his skills at the Findlay Driving Park which was located on Tiffin Avenue, across from Riverside Park. At the time, Oldfield held the title of the world's champion auto driver. He broke his own record while in Findlay, covering the one-mile course in one minute and 6 3/4 seconds. The decade of the 1910s began quietly enough. But change was on the horizon. Within a few years, World War I would begin, and the calm that had ushered in the 20th century would disappear. Findlay entered the decade with a population of 14,858 -- its lowest since 1890. The development of oil interests in Indiana and Illinois was blamed, in part, for drawing men and families away from the area. City leaders -- believing that more jobs would mean greater prosperity for the community -- spent the period working to build Findlay's industrial base. The popularity of a "new fangled" mode of transportation called the automobile had a remarkable effect on the country. People could travel farther and faster, thanks to Henry Ford. At least four companies manufactured motor vehicles in Findlay for a time. "At that period of time, there were hundreds and hundreds of car manufacturers," said Paulette Weiser, curator/archivist at the Hancock Historical Museum. "Most were short-lived." The Adams Brothers Co. made motor trucks in Findlay for about six years. The company -- which was located on West Main Cross Street, just east of Hurd Avenue -- had been in the foundry business several decades before it entered the automotive field. The old Adams Motor Co. of Findlay once sent a shipment of trucks to Tokyo, Japan. It was early this century when the local firm was active here in the manufacture of motor trucks with its plant on West Main Cross Street. In early 1911, six Adams trucks were taken to an automobile show in Chicago. The vehicles received an enthusiastic response, and demand for the Findlay-made product steadily increased. The assembly plant moved into larger quarters on Putnam Street. By 1917, however, truck production ceased and the company moved into the production of automobile axles. The Findlay Motor Car Co. produced passenger cars from 1910-13, in the old Findlay Axe and Tool plant at the foot of Santee Avenue. Then the company failed, and was taken over by a group of Detroit businessmen. For a few years, the new company manufactured the Grant motor car in Findlay. The Morning Republican newspaper gave a glowing review of the two-passenger, four-cylinder Grant roadster in November 1913, saying the car "is believed destined to become one of the sensational bargains of years ahead." The firm did substantial business and demand for the $425 car increased here and abroad. The line expanded to include a six-cylinder coupe, a cabriolet and a racing car. By 1916, Grant officials announced that the company had outgrown its quarters in Findlay. Operations were moved to Cleveland where the firm dissolved in the early 1920s. The Findlay Carriage Co. entered the automotive field in 1909 -- after producing carriages and buggies for 17 years. The firm's first vehicle was called the "Superior" and operated at speeds up to 60 mph. The company continued in business until fire destroyed its West Crawford Street plant in 1916. Hancock County native Tell Taylor wrote the popular song "Down by the Old Mill Stream" around 1910. Taylor told friends that the inspiration for the tune came to him while he was seated on the banks of the Blanchard River, not far from the Findlay Country Club. The following year, Findlay's Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis motor speedway race. In September 1908, the C.F. Jackson Co., owners of the Glass Block department store, embarked upon a new venture by opening an automobile garage on Broadway directly behind the Hancock County Courthouse. Space in the Corwin block, now the Masonic Home, was leased. F.J. Collingwood, who came to Findlay in 1905 as head of the store's jewelry department and who later became floor walker, was named to have charge of sales. Harry Bennett, who owned one of Findlay's first automobiles at the turn of the century and who had become an experienced auto repair man, had charge of service and repairs. In June 1911, Mr. Collingwood and E.C. Edwards bought the automobile business of the Jackson company and began its operation under the firm name of "Collingwood and Edwards." (Subsequently, Mr. Collingwood bought out Mr. Edwards' interest. Herbert Summers bought the Bennett auto repair business). In 1911, the Adams Bros. and Co. of Findlay began the manufacture of motor trucks, and the first truck built went to the Jackson company for delivery purposes. The Jackson company was weighing the matter of motorizing its entire city delivery system, but a factor that was a concern was the state of a number of Findlay streets that could not handle the truck traffic. Later in 1911, the Jackson company bought a heavy-duty truck from the Adams firm to be used in transporting freight. The first use was made in moving a carload of sugar from the railroad to the store. "The machine is a beauty and is an excellent specimen of its kind of trucks that are being put out by the Adams company," said the Morning Republican of June 22, 1911. "It is driven by a four-cylinder motor of high horse power, which is so quiet in running as to be scarcely heard. It is the open type, but is equipped with a top and hanging curtains at the sides."

Source: The Courier Findlay, Oh.

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Last Updated Jan 16 2004