Edison Machine Works on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce
The demands of the expanding utility soon overtaxed the cramped lower Manhattan shop. Extra lathes needed for production had to be set up on the sidewalks outside the building connected through the factory windows by long drive belts.Randall E. Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World, Three Rivers Press - 2008, page 169 Strikes, unionizing attempts, and the general expense of labor and land in New York City sent Edison looking for a site for a new factory. In 1886 the ''Machine Works'', along with 200 of its workers, were moved to two unfinished factory buildings on a 10-acre site in Schenectady, NY, intended to have been the McQueen Locomotive Works. The new factory was put under the control of Samuel Insull. ''Edison Machine Works'' continued as a separate company until 1889, when all of Edison's electric related companies were merged to form ''Edison General Electric''. The plant expanded rapidly and 1892 saw the merger of ''Edison General Electric'' and the '' Thomson-Houston Electric Company'' of Lynn, Massachusetts to form ''
The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce dynamo
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundat ...
s, large electric motor
An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate forc ...
s, and other components of the electrical illumination system being built in the 1880s by Thomas A. Edison in New York City.
History
The need for equipment in the development of a large-scale electric illumination " utility" in New York City, starting around 1880, soon outstripped the capacity of Thomas Edison's machine shop at Menlo Park. To alleviate the problem in 1881 Edison leased the oldEtna Iron Works
The Etna Iron Works (name sometimes rendered Ætna Iron Works) was a 19th-century ironworks and manufacturing plant for marine steam engines located in New York City. The Etna Works was a failing small business when purchased by ironmolder John R ...
on Goerck Street, Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
and set up the ''Edison Machine Works'' with Edison providing 90% of the capital and investor partner Charles Batchelor providing 10%. The workforce built up to some 800 men supervised by Edison machinist Charles Dean. This shop supplied jumbo dynamos for the original Pearl Street Station as well as dynamos of various sizes for the different types of electric light installations Edison was offering customers. The ''Machine Works'' was incorporated in 1884 with Edison investor Charles Batchelor as general manager, John Kruesi as assistant general manager, and Samuel Insull
Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a British-born American business magnate. He was an innovator and investor based in Chicago who greatly contributed to create an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United States ...
as secretary. At the end of 1885 the ''Electric Tube Company'' and the ''Edison Shafting Manufacturing Company'' were merged into the ''Edison Machine Works''.
The ''Machine Works'' also had a department that designed and tested equipment and trained Edison workers how to wire buildings and install and repair dynamos. New types of dynamos were designed here as well as improved power consumption meters.
The demands of the expanding utility soon overtaxed the cramped lower Manhattan shop. Extra lathes needed for production had to be set up on the sidewalks outside the building connected through the factory windows by long drive belts.Randall E. Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World, Three Rivers Press - 2008, page 169 Strikes, unionizing attempts, and the general expense of labor and land in New York City sent Edison looking for a site for a new factory. In 1886 the ''Machine Works'', along with 200 of its workers, were moved to two unfinished factory buildings on a 10-acre site in Schenectady, NY, intended to have been the McQueen Locomotive Works. The new factory was put under the control of Samuel Insull. ''Edison Machine Works'' continued as a separate company until 1889, when all of Edison's electric related companies were merged to form ''Edison General Electric''. The plant expanded rapidly and 1892 saw the merger of ''Edison General Electric'' and the '' Thomson-Houston Electric Company'' of Lynn, Massachusetts to form ''General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
'' with the Schenectady location used as GE's headquarters for many years thereafter.
Notable employees
* Justus B. Entz - joined Edison Machine Works in 1887 * Reginald Fessenden - worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1886 * Kunihiko Iwadare - joined Edison Machine Works in 1887 * Emil Kolben - joined Edison Machine Works in 1888 * John W. Lieb - worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1881 *Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
'' schenectadymuseum.org - Edison Machine Works
{{Thomas Edison Thomas Edison American companies established in 1881 Former buildings and structures in Manhattan Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City
'' schenectadymuseum.org - Edison Machine Works
{{Thomas Edison Thomas Edison American companies established in 1881 Former buildings and structures in Manhattan Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City