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Title: |
Warner and Swasey Company Records |
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Repository: |
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722 http://www.wrhs.org |
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Creator: |
Warner and Swasey Company |
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Dates: |
1883-1970 |
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Quantity: |
0.20 linear feet (1 container) |
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Abstract: |
The Warner and Swasey Company was a leading manufacturer of machine tools, especially turret lathes, and telescopes and optical equipment. By 1928, the company was the world's leading manufacturer of turret lathes, and during World War II produced half of all the turret lathes made in the United States. The company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1881 by Worcester R. Warner, who had a passionate interest in astronomy, and Ambrose Swasey. The company was bought by the Bendix Corp. of Michigan in 1980, which was taken over by Allied in 1983, which, in turn, sold it to Cross and Trecker in 1984. The collection consists of a copy of a pictorial historical reference book, clippings, and miscellaneous articles and lists relating to the company's history. |
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Identification: |
MS 4486 |
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Location: |
closed stacks |
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Language: |
The records are in English |
The Warner and Swasey Company (f. 1881) was a leading manufacturer of machine tools, with a worldwide reputation for its telescopes and precision instruments. The machine tool shop of former New England merchants Worcester R. Warner and Ambrose Swasey, located on Carnegie Avenue near East 55th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, initially manufactured a variety of types tools but eventually specialized in turret lathes and telescopes. By 1886 the firm had gained international fame for a telescope built for the Lick Conservatory in California, leading to contracts from the United States Naval Observatory and the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. Although much of the Warner and Swasey Company's fame came from its astronomical instruments, most of its profits came from its machine tool division. After incorporation in 1900, the company increased its emphasis on turret lathes, introducing several new types and becoming the world's leading producer by 1928. The Carnegie Avenue plant in Cleveland expanded several times, enabling the firm to produce additional optical equipment such as panoramic sights and binoculars. The firm became a public company in 1940 and began gradually withdrawing from the telescope business to diversify into the textile machinery, construction equipment, and electronics industries. By 1965, it employed 2,000 people and had moved several plant operations to the Cleveland suburb of Solon, Ohio, while establishing its headquarters in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland. In 1980 Bendix Corporation purchased the operation, closing several of the plants and implementing large-scale layoffs in Cleveland. A series of corporate purchases eventually resulted in the sale of Warner and Swasey to the Michigan machinery firm of Cross and Trecker in 1984.
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Warner & Swasey Company
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Worchester Reed Warner
click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Ambrose Swasey
The Warner and Swasey Company Records, 1883 and 1937-1970, consist of a copy of a pictorial historical reference book, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous articles and lists relating to the company's history.
None.
Related Material: Related MaterialResearchers should also consult MS 3284 Frank Augustus Scott Papers; MS 4307 Frank Augustus Scott Papers, Series II: MS 3254 Mason Family Papers; MS 4429 Worcester Warner Papers; and PG 270 Warner and Swasey Company Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4486 Warner and Swasey Company Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Warner and Swasey Company, 1984.
Processed by Bari Oyler Stith in 1990.