The Holyoke Machine Company was an American manufacturer of industrial machinery, best known for its work in paper manufacturing equipment and

water turbines A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, th ...

. The company, formed in 1863, was founded by Nathan H. Whitten, T.C. Page, T. B. Flanders, Richard Pattee, and S. S. Chase, after the

Holyoke Water Power Company Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appro ...

's machine shop had been sold off. Stephen Holman, the company's treasurer, president, and largest shareholder during different times in its first decade, is credited as its founder, though the nature of his early involvement is not well documented. Holman would purchase the company's foundry works in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

in April 1873, a second manufacturing branch which remained open for several decades. The best known among turbines manufactured by the company was the Hercules turbine; a design developed by engineer

John B. McCormick John Buchanan McCormick (November 4, 1834 – August 21, 1924) was an American mechanical engineer who invented the first modern mixed flow water turbine, the "Hercules", as well variants including the Holyoke-McCormick, and Achilles turbines. Mc ...

, who improved upon the

Francis turbine The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts. Francis turbines are the most common water turbine in use today, and can achieve over 95% efficiency. The proces ...

, it was the first true mixed flow turbine of a high efficiency. With a maximum efficiency of 87%, a considerable improvement over previous designs of the era, the turbine would become ubiquitous in mills in the United States, as well as Europe. The central location of the company, and its design improvements for various papermaking machinery such as

Fourdrinier machine A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machin ...

s, contributed to the paper making and textile economy of Massachusetts and more specifically the paper industry of

the Berkshires The Berkshires () are a highland geologic region located in the western parts of Massachusetts and northwest Connecticut. The term "Berkshires" is normally used by locals in reference to the portion of the Vermont-based Green Mountains that ex ...

, granting ready-access to machinery that often had to be shipped great distances from other manufacturers. In addition to turbines and papermaking machinery, the company was also known to have produced a wide variety of cast parts and custom orders. Among those known were Thomas Edison's personal elevator at his Orange, New Jersey laboratory, as well as doors for the

US Capitol Building The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

. With a changing market steering away from 19th century water-turbine factories, the business went into decline and entered bankruptcy in 1948, when it was bought by Irwin Sagalyn, who closed its foundry and changed the business's focus. At the end of 1950 the company auctioned off all of its remaining tools for the purposes of manufacturing turbines, papermaking tools and other mechanical machinery, choosing to focus entirely on its precision roll and filter business in the paper and textile industries. Citing the shrinking of an American industrial base, changes in technology and its specialization in those industries, Irwin's son, owner James Sagalyn, dissolved the company in August 2017, leaving one competitor working on the same technology, Badger Roll and Machine of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

to handle remaining customers, many in the Greater Springfield area.

References

External links

*{{commons-inline
Trade catalogs from Holyoke Machine Co.
National Museum of American History
Patent Assignee- Holyoke Machine Company
Google Patents
Slitting Machine, Curving Machine & Steel Slitting Machine
1863 establishments in Massachusetts Manufacturing companies established in 1863 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 2017 Companies based in Holyoke, Massachusetts Companies based in Worcester, Massachusetts Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts Industrial machine manufacturers