Samuel F. Hodge & Company

Last updated June 29, 2019

The Samuel F. Hodge & Co. was a manufacturer of marine engines in Detroit. Originally established in 1863 under the name of Cowie, Hodge & Co. In 1865, the firm became Hodge & Christie. In 1870, Mr. Hodge bought the interest of Mr. Christie and continued the business individually. In 1876, during the worst of the depression following the crash of 1873, Samuel F. Hodge built one of the most convenient manufacturing establishments in Detroit, S.F. Hodge & Company, equipping it with a plant second to none. In 1883 it was incorporated as the Samuel F. Hodge & Company. Samuel F. Hodge retained the presidency until his death.^[1] They turned out 125 engines between 1884 and 1899. They built the first triple expansion engine to be used on the Great Lakes. It was placed in the Roumania on October 2, 1886.^[2] Here also was built the engine for Capt. Hoyt, the first of Capt. Alexander Mc Dougall's whaleback steamers built at West Superior. The engine in the whaleback steamer, Westmore, which attracted much attention in Liverpool when she crossed the Atlantic, was a product these shops. The great whaleback excursion steamer Christopher Columbus, employed at the World's Fair, received her engine from Samuel F. Hodge & Co. This was said to be the largest single engine of its class on the lakes. Samuel F. Hodge & Co. was located at 308 to 326 Atwater St. East, in Detroit.^[3]

Detroit is the largest and most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan, the largest American city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of Wayne County. The municipality of Detroit had a 2017 estimated population of 673,104, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the United States. The metropolitan area, known as Metro Detroit, is home to 4.3 million people, making it the second-largest in the Midwest after the Chicago metropolitan area. Regarded as a major cultural center, Detroit is known for its contributions to music and as a repository for art, architecture and design.

The Great Lakes, also called the Laurentian Great Lakes and the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of interconnected freshwater lakes primarily in the upper mid-east region of North America, on the Canada–United States border, which connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River. They consist of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Hydrologically, there are only four lakes, because Lakes Michigan and Huron join at the Straits of Mackinac. The lakes form the Great Lakes Waterway.

Riverside Iron Works was the short-lived successor to the venerable S.F. Hodge Company, which was known for quality steam engines and provided access to marine engine markets and non marine markets. Because of the Hodge Company, founded in 1863, and other companies like them, the Detroit River community had become a hot bed for steam engine development.^[4]

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References

↑ Magazine of Western History, 1886, Vol 1V #5, p. 651
↑ "History of the Great Lakes". Samuel F. Hodge & Co. Archived from the original on May 10, 2006. Retrieved March 27, 2008.
↑ "Samuel F. Hodge".
↑ "GLEW-YardHistory-45.pdf" (PDF).

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[1] Magazine of Western History, 1886, Vol 1V #5, p. 651

[HGL-2] "History of the Great Lakes". Samuel F. Hodge & Co. Archived from the original on May 10, 2006. Retrieved March 27, 2008.

[3] "Samuel F. Hodge".

[4] "GLEW-YardHistory-45.pdf" (PDF).