The Halladay Motor Car company was founded in 1905 in

Streator, Illinois Streator is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Livingston County, Illinois, Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary), Vermilion River approximately so ...

, and moved to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in 1917.

Origins

The company originated with the Erie Motor Carriage & Manufacturing Company in

Anderson, Indiana Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Indiana, United States. The population was 54,788 at the 2020 census. It is named after Chief William Anderson. The city is the headquarters of the Church of God and its Anderson ...

, which was bought out in 1902 by Lou P. Halladay. He spent a year earning $30,000 in capital, then renamed the company the Streator Automobile & and Manufacturing Company. The company kept this name until 1913.

Streator Automobile & and Manufacturing Company

The first car came out in 1904 with great secrecy. It was a five-passenger touring car with a four-cylinder engine. The engines came from the

Rutenber Motor Company The Rutenber Motor Company was established as the Rutenber Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to manufacture a four-cylinder engine to the design of Edwin Rutenber. History Rutenber studied the trade of mechanics and, ...

. In 1908, the company added a runabout and a

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

. About 900 cars were made every year. The cars were well-built. In 1910, a Halladay was the only car to finish a 250-mile race in Atlanta. On September 23, 1911, the company fell into receivership, with $250,000 in liabilities. In January 1913, the company's property was sold to the Merchants' Realization Company, which then sold it to Albert C. Barley, the secretary of the Rutenber Motor Company.

Models

Under Albert Barley

While under Albert Barley, he named the company Barley Motor Car Company, but still produced the Halladay. After a while, he lost interest in the Halladay, so in 1916 he sold the Halladay to a group of investors headed by T. E. Huth, while he made a new car called the Roamer.

In Ohio

In 1917, the group of investors kept making the Halladay, now in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Mahoning River, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown, Ohio, Y ...

. They changed the name to Halladay Motor Car Company. They still used a six-cylinder engine provided by Rutenber. The cars were advertised as "sturdy, compact, and low-upkeep". In 1920, the company was moved to

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city in Licking County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located east of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus at the junction of the forks of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 United ...

, where the name was changed to Halladay Motors Corporation. In 1922, the company tried to make a 4-cylinder car called the Falcon, but in March, the company went into receivership again. This was because of charges from the

Barber Asphalt Paving Company The Barber Asphalt Company, founded in 1883 by Amzi L. Barber, initially started in Washington, D.C. and later moved its headquarters to New York City. The company leased the largest known asphalt deposit at Pitch Lake, Trinidad in 1888 and expande ...

of Pennsylvania, which had not been paid for work done around the Newark plant. This time, Halladay went out of business.

References

{{reflist Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Illinois Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Ohio Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States Halladay automobile Halladay automobile Cars introduced in 1905 1900s cars 1910s cars Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1905 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1922 Brass Era vehicles Vintage vehicles 1905 establishments in Illinois