THE CACHE IS LOCATED IN THE
VISITOR PARKING LOT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE RIDGE TOOL
FACTORY. YOU WILL BE LOOKING FOR A MAGNETIC MICRO. THE CACHE
IS SMALL AND WAS PLACED FOR THE HISTORY OF THE FACTORY. NEVER
STOP SEEKING CACHES AND HAPPY HUNTING. TAKE A MINUTE TO LEARN
SOME COOL LOCAL HISTORY.
The Graford
Company Factory
Arthur Garford was born in 1859. Both of his parents were born in
England, but Garford was born in Elyria, Ohio. By his early
twenties, Garford had found employment as a store clerk in
Elyria.Garford remained a businessman for the remainder of his
life. By the 1890s, he had become a bank executive, and in 1892,
Garford purchased the Fay Manufacturing Company. The Fay
Manufacturing Company produced bicycles and equipment to improve
roads for bicycle use. In 1892, Garford renamed the business the
Garford Manufacturing Company. This company produced the first
padded bicycle seat in the entire world. Bicycles had become very
popular by the late nineteenth century, but roads were very rocky
and bumpy, making riding a bicycle somewhat uncomfortable.
Garford's bicycle seat, known as the Garford Saddle, made bicycles
more enjoyable to ride. Within a few years of establishing the
Garford Manufacturing Company, Garford's firm was manufacturing
more than one million seats per year. By the early 1900s, Elyria,
Ohio, businessman Arthur Garford had amassed a sizable fortune from
the Garford Manufacturing Company. This firm manufactured the first
padded bicycle seat in the entire world. Garford eventually sold
this company to George Worthington, who renamed the firm the
Worthington Manufacturing Company. In conjunction with George Pope,
a bicycle and automobile manufacturer, Garford, utilizing funds
from the Garford Manufacturing Company's sale, soon formed the
Federal
Manufacturing Company. In
1904, Garford purchased Pope's share in the firm, and this same
year, Garford renamed the company the Garford Company. Garford
watched the new horseless carriage coming on strong, Garford
quickly recognizes the growing importance of the horseless
carriage. He invents the first single-headlight car, called "The
One-Eye", which sells for $2,750. In his new factory, he builds
cars to compete with Henry Ford. Garford’s were powered by gasoline
powered engines, which initially had a displacement of 8bhpwere
listed as a five-passenger touring car with a detachable roof,
which, once removed, converted the car into a two person runabout.
Seven years later, with increasing pressure from Ford's Model T,
Garford sold his plant to an assembly-line auto manufacturer. At
this time Garford Company primarily manufactured Studebaker-Garford
automobiles. The company began production in 1904 and ceased
production in 1911, having manufactured only 2,481
Studebaker-Garford cars. Garford was a manufacturer of automobile
components and chassis’s for a number of early automotive works for
Studebaker. In 1908, Garford sold his majority interest in the
Garford Company to Studebaker. Studebaker officials sold the
Garford Company to the Willys-Overland Company in 1911. The
building is now home to the Ridge Tool Company, but Elyria's
premier industrialist, A.L. Garford history and memory still lives
on in his old factory. You can find two of A.L. Garford's cars on
display at the Western Reserve Historical Society / Crawford
Auto-Aviation Museum in University Circle, Cleveland
Ohio.
