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, occupying 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.
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!
