Archives:
Glover Machine Works Collection
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James Bolan Glover II
(1866 – 1897) purchased the Phoenix Foundry and Machine
Shop in 1892 and renamed it to Glover Machine Works. |
Glover Machine Works Business Records
MS2001.001
Provenance:
James Bolan Glover IV donated these records in 2001
(Accession MS.2001.001)
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes for a small
fee. Permission to publish materials from this collection must be
obtained from the Director of Library/Archives.
Sallie E. Loy and Dick Hillman processed these papers in 2001-2003.
Size: 100 linear feet (200 document cases).
Organizational History of the Glover Machine Works 1895-1995
The history of the Glover Machine Works can be traced to the early
1890s when James Bolan Glover II, “Bolie” bought an existing
company, the Phoenix Foundry and Machine Shop near downtown Marietta,
Georgia in 1892. The name of the company was changed to the Glover
Machine Works in early 1895. A Lehigh University educated engineer,
Bolan Glover took advantage of the needs of the various emerging
industries in the south by manufacturing various types of industrial
equipment. In the 1890s the Glover Machine Works operated during
a period of immense growth in the industrial output of America’s
factories, forests, and mines. With the increase in production came
an increase in the demand for industrial machinery and by the late
19th century the Glover Machine Works was manufacturing a full line
of equipment as well as a full catalogs of steam-powered machinery
and hoisting engines advertised for “all classes of industrial
work.”
One of their earliest and most popular products was a steam-powered
log skidder. Built for use in the South’s pine and cypress
forests, the log skidder was nothing more than a steam-powered winch
with a vertical boiler. Such a machine was vital to the success
of the lumber industry by allowing the logging crews to drag logs
out of otherwise inaccessible pine forests and cypress swamps. Glover
made equipment could also be found in the South’s developing
mining and quarry industries. Marble polishing machines, quarry
cranes, pulverizing machines, brick machines and machine molded
gearing all bearing the Glover name could be found throughout the
southeast.
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John Wilder Glover
(1875 – 1942) took over as proprietor of the Glover Machine
Works in 1897 and guided the company toward the manufacture
of steam locomotives. |
Bolie’s tenure as owner of the Glover Machine Works was short
lived. He died in 1897 at the age of 30. Upon Bolie’s death
his brother John Wilder Glover became president of the Glover Machine
Works. Under Wilder Glover’s direction, the Glover Machine
Works developed into one of the premier builder of steam locomotives
in the South. Even prior to Bolan Glover’s death, the company
advertised on a national scale touting their ability to manufacture
or repair virtually any part or piece of a steam locomotive. Consequently,
company records indicate that as early as 1894 the Glover Machine
Works was doing repair work on locomotives made by other North American
locomotive companies such as Vulcan, Davenport, Baldwin and Porter.
In addition, the Glover shops were building a variety of railroad
related equipment such as push cars, lever cars and inspection cars.
Company records reveal that the Glover Machine Works was manufacturing
everything from brake wheels to grate bars and virtually everything
in between.
It was this repair work that pushed them into the full-scale production
of locomotives. Established during a time of tremendous industrial
growth in the United States, the Glover Machine Works saw opportunities
in an expanding market for light steam locomotives primarily built
to serve the many industrial uses at the turn of the 20th century.
Already involved in industrial manufacturing with all of the requisite
physical plant typical of the era; consisting of an iron foundry,
machine shop, fabrication and pattern shops; and already building
steam hoisting engines and steam driven logging skidders, by the
early 20th century the Glover Machine Shop was perfectly positioned
to begin manufacturing light steam locomotives. Between 1902 and
1930 the Glover Machine Works manufactured over 200 locomotives
and their name became known throughout the United States.
By the 1930s the era of steam locomotive production at the Glover
facility had passed. The company continued operating, with the bulk
of their business coming through the production of high-pressure
pipeline components at their plant in Cordele, Georgia. After the
last steam locomotive was shipped the Glover Machine Works continued
to repair and manufacture replacement parts for their engines through
the 1950s. With the population explosion of Cobb County in the 1980’s
and 1990’s the land on which the Glover complex sat became
a desired commodity. With the sale of the land to Cobb County in
the early 1990’s historians and concerned citizens aware of
the importance of the materials become concerned about would what
happen with the historically significant archives and artifacts.
With the support of the Glover family, and just as demolition began
on the complex, work commenced to remove and preserve the wood patterns,
company archives, machinery, and 3 Glover locomotives still within
the buildings on the complex grounds.
At the present time, the Glover Machine Works Collection is categorized
into ten series of archival information.
| Series 1 |
Glover Machine Works Builder's Files |
| Series 2 |
Glover Machine Works Locomotive Specifications |
| Series 3 |
Glover Machine Works Photographs/Postcards/Builder's
Illustrations/Advertising Photograph's/Designers-Engravers-Printers-Proofs/Glover
Machine Works Shop and Foundry Photographs |
| Series 4, 5 & 6 |
Glover Machine Works Time Books/Payroll Journals/Cash
Books/Accounting Journals/Ledger for Glover Steel Company, dated
1887-1937 |
| Series 7, 8 & 9 |
Glover Machine Steel Company Daily Time Records,
dated 1897-1935 |
| Series 10 |
Glover Machine Works Alpha Invoice, insurance,
and Miscellaneous Files, Superior Invoices, and Customer Orders |
