Small Businesses in the Old North End

In the Old North End of Lima the Lima Locomotive Works and Deisel-Wemmer-Gilbert Cigar Co. were not the only place to find employment. There were many small businesses that employed people from the north end. These following businesses are a few that were part of the north end for more than twenty years. Though they were small they were an important part of Lima's industry and were important to the people of the North End.

The Lennox Furnace Company: Tool and Machine Division

The Lennox Furnace Company's Tool and Machine Division was located at 651 Baxter Street in Lima, OH and produced dies and equipment for the Lennox Furnace Company from the early forties into the early sixties. In 1946 it was listed as one of Lima's most progressive small industries . Early in the 1960's the company came under the ownership of the Warner & Swasey Co.

Gasdorf Tool and Machine Company

Gus Gasdorf formed the Gasdorf Tool and Machine Company located at 445 North McDonel Street. Gasdorf had at one time been a part of the Steiner Brothers Machine Company and then a plant manager for the machine and tool division of the Lennox Furnace Company . This company did precision machine work and produced a machine that places insulation on the windings of the stator in small appliance motors.

The Warner and Swasey Company

The Warner and Swasey Company bought out the plant at 651 North Baxter, which had been the home of the Steiner Brothers Co. and the machine and tool division of the Lennox Furnace Co. in the late 1960's. They continued to produce tools and dies for subcontracted manufacturing in the car industry

Work Used
John R. Carnes, The 1976 History of Allen County, (Evansville, IN: Unigraphics Inc. 1976), 215