Edison machine works goerck street new york 1881

The Edison Machine Works was a manufacturing company set up to produce

dynamo "Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, ) A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...

s, large

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate f ...

s, and other components of the electrical illumination system being built in the 1880s by Thomas A. Edison in New York City.

History

The need for equipment in the development of a large-scale electric illumination "

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosophe ...

" in New York City, starting around 1880, soon outstripped the capacity of Thomas Edison's machine shop at Menlo Park. To alleviate the problem in 1881 Edison leased the old Etna Iron Works on Goerck Street,

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

and set up the ''Edison Machine Works'' with Edison providing 90% of the capital and investor partner Charles Batchelor providing 10%. The workforce built up to some 800 men supervised by Edison machinist Charles Dean. This shop supplied jumbo dynamos for the original

Pearl Street Station Pearl Street Station was the first commercial central power plant in the United States. It was located at 255–257 Pearl Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, just south of Fulton Street on a site measuring . The statio ...

as well as dynamos of various sizes for the different types of electric light installations Edison was offering customers. The ''Machine Works'' was incorporated in 1884 with Edison investor Charles Batchelor as general manager, John Kruesi as assistant general manager, and

Samuel Insull Samuel Insull (November 11, 1859 – July 16, 1938) was a British-born American business magnate. He was an innovator and investor based in Chicago who greatly contributed to create an integrated electrical infrastructure in the United Stat ...

as secretary. At the end of 1885 the ''Electric Tube Company'' and the ''Edison Shafting Manufacturing Company'' were merged into the ''Edison Machine Works''. The ''Machine Works'' also had a department that designed and tested equipment and trained Edison workers how to wire buildings and install and repair dynamos. New types of dynamos were designed here as well as improved power consumption meters. General Electric Shops, Schenectady, NY, aerial view, 1896

General Electric Shops, Schenectady, NY, aerial view, 1896

The demands of the expanding utility soon overtaxed the cramped lower Manhattan shop. Extra lathes needed for production had to be set up on the sidewalks outside the building connected through the factory windows by long drive belts.Randall E. Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World, Three Rivers Press - 2008, page 169 Strikes, unionizing attempts, and the general expense of labor and land in New York City sent Edison looking for a site for a new factory. In 1886 the ''Machine Works'', along with 200 of its workers, were moved to two unfinished factory buildings on a 10-acre site in Schenectady, NY, intended to have been the McQueen Locomotive Works. The new factory was put under the control of Samuel Insull. ''Edison Machine Works'' continued as a separate company until 1889, when all of Edison's electric related companies were merged to form ''Edison General Electric''. The plant expanded rapidly and 1892 saw the merger of ''Edison General Electric'' and the '' Thomson-Houston Electric Company'' of

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

to form ''

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...

'' with the Schenectady location used as GE's headquarters for many years thereafter. Schenectady Station -- New Station Oct 2018 06

Notable employees

* Justus B. Entz - joined Edison Machine Works in 1887 *

Reginald Fessenden Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (October 6, 1866 – July 22, 1932) was a Canadian-born inventor, who did a majority of his work in the United States and also claimed U.S. citizenship through his American-born father. During his life he received hundre ...

- worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1886 * Kunihiko Iwadare - joined Edison Machine Works in 1887 * Emil Kolben - joined Edison Machine Works in 1888 * John W. Lieb - worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1881 *

Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...

- worked at the Edison Machine Works in 1884

References

External links

schenectadymuseum.org - Edison Machine Works

{{Thomas Edison Thomas Edison American companies established in 1881 Former buildings and structures in Manhattan Defunct manufacturing companies based in New York City