Utica's "Boiler-Making" Companies
Utica Industry In 1888
"Utica has for many years been celebrated throughout the country as a hot-air furnace manufacturing centre, and the stamp of Utica on a furnace is sufficient guarantee of its excellence, as it is well known that this city produces none other than the best of appliances of this nature, and the houses representing this branch of industry here, have long borne the highest reputation as responsible, enterprising and honorable concerns." [Ref.]
Utica's "Boilermaker" road race, first run in 1978, took its name from a boiler factory [Ref.]. That factory had roots dating back to 1928, but was just one of numerous firms who manufactuered stoves, furances and boilers during Utica's Industrial Revolution.
100-years earlier, multiple Inventors equipped numerous boiler-making firms that began calling Downtown Utica's Columbia-Lafayette Neighborhood home. This was largely due to our world famous Erie Canal and lesser known Chenango Canal.
Carton Furnace Co. On Banks of Erie Canal
Consider Fires, Furnaces & Forges, for a history of indoor heating. View Historical Maps and Ilustrations of the neighborhood, read the Boilermaker Road Race Naming Story, or scroll down for more history and links to the companies that no doubt gave genesis to the Boilermaker's name.
We believe the history of the firms listed below and these Inventors Of Furance & Boilers, offer an excellent opportunity for creating a more compelling Downtown Hospital Neighborhood.
Carton Furnace: One of five firms who merged
On June 10, 1898 the International Heater Company (IHC) was organized. This new firm was engaged in the manufacturing, marketing and sales of heating equipment for homes and businesses. The merger combined the products offered by five different companies...
Utica-based firms were; Russel Wheeler & Son, and The Carton Furnace Company. Syracuse-based firms were; J. F. Pease Furnace Company, Howard Furnace Company, and Kernan Furnace Company. These Upstate firms agreed to merge their respective businesses, convey their assets into The International Heater Company, Utica became headquaters.
Initially, International Heater purchased additional property and remodeled a hotel at 418 Lafayette Street for a new showroom. A warehouse was also constructed behind the showroom for shipping products nationwide by way of the Erie Canal. These buildings have been cared for and partially restored by Citation Services since 2001...
2017: Carton Furnace Company Warehouse
Phenomenal success of the International Heater merger would later see construction of two Large Factories in East Utica near Broad Street. In 1966, due to construction of Utica's East-West Arterial, the company would construct a 274,000 sq. ft. Replacement Factory on Beechgrove Place.
In order to tell our story, we're developing a timeline called, Utica's Textile Mills vs. Stove, Furnaces & Boiler Makers.
Utica firms who produced; stoves, furnaces and boilers included...
A. L. Goodenow,
A. T. Whiting & Company,
Bailey, Wheeler & Company,
Carton & Dana,
Carton & Company,
The Carton Furnace Company,
T. W. Chatfield,
Eagle Foundry,
ECR International,
Giblin & Company,
Goodenow Furnace Company,
Goodenow & Owens,
H. Gilbert Hart & Company,
Hart & Crouse Company Inc,
Head's Iron Foundry,
International Heater Company (IHC),
J. Henry Parker,
J. S. & M. Peckham,
Le Roy, Shattuck, & Head,
Palace King Furnace Company,
Philo S. Curtis,
The Phoenix Iron Works (Palmer's Foundry),
A. S. Pond & Company,
Russel Wheeler & Son,
Sayre Owens & Company,
Seymore, Savage & Company,
Thomas O'Hanlon & Sons,
T. W. Chatfield & Sons,
Utica Heater Company,
Utica Radiator Corporation,
The Utica Steam Guage Company, and
Utica Steam Engine & Boiler Works.
Below is just one example of what Utica produced in the Columbia-Lafayette Nieghborhood, an operational schematic of a "Carton Hot-Air and Combination C Furnace" clearly shows: "Patented August 17, 1896" and "Utica, NY" on the cast iron surfaces...
Carton 1897 Hot-Air Combination Furnace
A passage from a 1897 Carton Furnace Company "Catalog and Price List"...
Carton Passage from 1897 Catalog & Price List
How did the Carton Furnace Company (which became part of The International Heater Company), and all these other firms fit into heating history? We're developing the story and hope to one day offer a museum with exhibits and much more. In the meantime, please consider Fires, Furnaces & Forges to understand how the indoor heating industry developed.
Utica Mechanics Association
Today Utica's Mechanics Hall on Hotel Street is slanted for redevelopment, the building was erected by the Utica Mechanics Association in 1837. The UticaOD explained the hall's activity in 1919...
In the 1800s, owners of stove, furnace and boiler manufacturers were highly invloved in the Utica Mechanics Association. Per the 1856 Utica City Directory...
1856: Utica Mechanics' Association"For a long time the Association conducted annual fairs of manufactured products and conducted courses of lectures in the winter." Ref.
Utica's furnace and boiler producing industry was eclipsed by textile mill employment, however producing equipment to heat homes and businesses was very significant to Utica's early prosperity and development.
Today a strong national brand, "Utica Boiler," is still manufactured in Utica by ECR International Inc.
Better Utica Downtown seeks to help create a Better Hospital Neighborhood.