Buffalo Pitts Company
The internationally-recognized manufacturing powerhouse that was the Buffalo
Pitts Company began in 1837, started by
J.A. and H.A. Pitts. The company specialized in steam-powered engines and vehicles
such as the one here pictured (c.1900).
Its fame came from road-building equipment and agricultural tractors and threshers,
the latter particularly valuable in the last half
of the 19th century as the Great Plains were brought under cultivation.
The Buffalo Pitts manufacturing complex was located close to the Erie Canal
and Buffalo harbor
transhipment venues, occuping the blocks at Carolina and 4th Streets in the
city.
In 1901, the Buffalo Pitts Company was represented at the Pan-American Exposition
at the
Mission Building, erected in part by Buffalo Pitts officer Carleton Sprague.
To view the souvenir
booklet of Buffalo Pitts equipment, look here.
The Buffalo Pitts company continued into the
20th century but, by 1918, it was in receivership.
Look for a detailed story on this company in the Fall 2004 issue of the Western
New York
Heritage magazine!