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North Western Illinois Perhaps the most well-known region for its wealth of significant contributions to the manufacture of agriculture implements and tractors. With its strategic location next to the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, as well as, major roads of travel to the vast western prairies, the North Western Illinois territory became home to a large number of very fruitful inventors and businessmen. This region is still home of America's most famous farming icon...John Deere
Grand Detour Plow Company - Home of one of the oldest plow manufacturers in Illinois. Grand Detour is found along the Rock River just North of Dixon. Grand Detour Plow Company was established shortly after the town blacksmith, John Deere, sold out his partnership in a small plow building business and moved to Moline. His former partner went on to run a successful implement factory for several more years partly due to the successes they developed in the founding years. The foundation product of this company was the single shear plow, but eventually evolved into making other plows, cultivators, etc.
Ladd Corn Planter Works - A small company that is difficult to find much information on. They manufactured horse-drawn corn planters for a short number of years.
J.D. Tower and Sons Company - J.D. Tower developed a reputation with their cultivators and other smaller implements in the beginning of the 20th Century.
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Moline - Once known as the "Plow City" |
Deere and Company - One of the oldest continuous running Ag equipment manufacturers in the United States today. John Deere started out in 1837 forging his first Steel Plow. Little did he realize that the design of that plow would lead his namesake toward a path of infamy that still carries with it a symbol of strength and reliability. John Deere and his heirs led the company through a myriad of good and bad times in agriculture to emerge today as a Fortune 500. John Deere Plow works officially began on the banks of the Mississippi in Moline in the 1850's building signature "prairie breaking" plows. Over the years they added other implements, mowers, planters, tractors, harvesters, etc. Today, Deere and Company manufactures and sells a multitude of equipment for farmers from plows to tractors to GPS equipment.
D.M. Sechler Carriage Company - As the name suggests, this company got its beginnings manufacturing horse carriages, precursor to the modern motor vehicle. Eventually the company found its way into the farming arena by manufacturing corn planters known as the Blackhawk Corn Planter.
Moline Plow Company - A fierce developer of Plows and other implements, Moline Plow Company had a large presence in the Ag manufacturing business for several decades. Formed initially by former Deere and Company employees, the Moline Plow Company survived many down cycles including a law suit by Deere and Company in the 1870's. The Moline Plow Company went on to manufacturer a number of implements from plows to planters and survived long enough to develop a tractor in the early 1900's which eventually got absorbed into the Minneapolis-Moline Company.
Moline Wagon Company - While most of the equipment manufacturers were competing in the plow business, this company had its beginnings building farm wagons. These wagons grew in popularity and the company built a large line of wagons from small to very large. Eventually, the Moline Wagon Company was taken over by John Deere and was added to their portfolio of products.
B.D. Buford & Company Plow Works - Buford was a former plow maker for John Deere who left to start his own company just down the road. They manufactured plows, cultivators, harrows, and other implements until eventually bought and merged into |
