Geiser Manufacturing Company was an early

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

company in

Waynesboro, Pennsylvania Waynesboro () is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located on the southern border of the state, Waynesboro is in the Cumberland Valley between Hagerstown, Maryland, Hagerstown, Maryland, and Chamb ...

. Geiser Manufacturing was incorporated in 1869 by Peter and Daniel Geiser. The company built grain separators, threshers,

plow A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...

s, and steam traction engines. The company's brand name was Peerless. The main building was 334 ft long and 3 stories in height, and had a 34 ft cupola. In January 1891 its total monthly payroll amounted to over 10,000 US dollars ($239500 in 2010 dollars) and employed 162 people. In 1899 the company expanded outside Waynesboro and bought the Crowell industrial park in

Greencastle, Pennsylvania Greencastle is a borough in Franklin County in south-central Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,251 at the 2020 census. Greencastle lies within the Cumberland Valley of Pennsylvania. History Indigenous People The region known to ...

, and began producing its Geiser's first

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as Autogas, liquefied petroleum gas and Common ...

s there. Up to this point, all its products had been steam-powered. In March 1912, Geiser's Waynesboro plant was hit by a strike involving over a thousand employees after "a new superintendent had new ideas concerning the manner in which the place should be run." Other plants were not affected by the dispute. In 1912 Geiser Manufacturing was purchased by the Emerson-Brantingham Company of

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...

, which had gone so far in August 1912 as to issue over 22 million dollars ($490 million in 2010 dollars) in stock in order to raise the capital to purchase the company along with

Reeves & Co Reeves & Co. was an American farm tractor builder for thirty years, based in Columbus, Indiana. It built some of the largest steam traction engines used in North America. Hoosier Boy Cultivator Company Marshal Reeves was the inventor of a two ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

and Gas Traction Company of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. In 1936 Geiser became bankrupt and was forced to sell everything. On August 21, 1940 while removing equipment, a fire leveled the plant which was thought to have been started by a welders torch. It had been said the glow of the fire could be seen from almost forty miles away. Currently, only the main office building stands, and the main property is now occupied by a funeral home, parking lot, NAPA Auto Parts Store, Bowersox Memorial Stone's and church as well as a post office, . Geiser

References

{{Reflist Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Agricultural machinery manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Pennsylvania