Holt Manufacturing Company - Company Origins

Company Origins

Charles H. Holt arrived in San Francisco from Concord, New Hampshire, in 1864 to form C. H. Holt and Co. Initially the company produced wooden wheels for wagons and, later on, steel wheels for streetcars. In 1869, at age 20, his younger brother Benjamin went to work in their father's sawmill in New Hampshire along with William Harrison Holt and Ames Frank Holt, preparing hardwoods for shipping to Charles in San Francisco. William and Ames joined Charles in San Francisco in 1871.

In the same year, Charles and Ames established the Holt Brothers Company in San Francisco. The company sold hardwood, lumber, and wagon and carriage materials, primarily manufacturing wagon axles, wheels, and frames. W. Harrison Holt and Ames both temporarily returned around 1871 to New Hampshire – where both were married – to manage the eastern business. The brothers built a factory in Concord, New Hampshire, to manufacture wagon wheels, wheel components, bodies and running gear. In 1872, at age 23, Benjamin was given an interest in his father's business, and he assumed more responsibility for the company's operations. W. Harrison Holt moved to Tiffin, Ohio, to manage the company's lumber business there, where he remained until the early 1880s. Their mother died in 1875, and their father died eight years later in 1883. After his father's death, Benjamin Holt left New Hampshire in 1883 to help Charles build the business in California.

Charles, Benjamin and Frank incorporated the Holt Bros. Company on January 7, 1892, to deal in lumber and iron. Four days later, they also filed incorporation papers for "Holt Manufacturing Company" with Charles H. Holt, Benjamin Holt, Frank A. Holt, G. H. Cowie and G. L. Dickenson as directors.

The Holt Bros. Company formed a subsidiary, the "The Stockton Wheel Company", to build the wheels. They based their company in the warm Central Valley town of Stockton, California. Stockton was an ideal location, as it could be reached by sea-going ship via the San Joaquin River, 72 miles (116 km) east of San Francisco, and was hot enough to season woods in a way that would prepare them for use in the arid valleys of California and the deserts of the West. The factory cost US$65,000 (or about $1,793,740 ) to build and used a 40-horsepower Corliss steam engine that had been manufactured in Providence, Rhode Island, and shipped around Cape Horn. All of the plant's machines were driven by belts connected to the Corliss engine.

Brothers Charles and Benjamin eventually bought-out the other brothers, with Charles running the business side and Benjamin running manufacturing operations.

During the first year, the Holt subsidiary Stockton Wheel Company produced 6,000 wagon wheels and 5,000 carriage bodies. One of their most popular wheel types was 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter and used by redwood loggers, who connected two of these wheels with a strong 10 feet (3.0 m) axle, and then attached a team of horses to pull logs from the forest.