Erie Foundry and Bucyrus-Erie Shovel

The West 12th Street corridor in Erie, PA was a force to be reckoned with during the age of steam power. Bucyrus-Erie was located on the northeast corner of 12th and Weschler. Look closely and you'll see a man in the cab of a Bucyrus Erie half-yard Drag Shovel on the left side of the photo. The Erie Foundry Company, at 1253 West 12th Street, is visible in the distance to the right of the cab. This photo was taken in 1929. Erie Foundry Co. was across the street from Bucyrus-Erie on the south side of Twelfth St.

Erie Foundry Co. was formed in 1895 and originally made iron castings. It purchased a steam hammer business from a Pittsburgh Company in 1903. Business picked up when the company began to concentrate on the production of steam hammers. John McDonald was the president and treasurer of Erie Foundry in 1929. D. A. Currie was vice-president and general manager and Donald McDonald was secretary.

"The Erie Foundry devotes its entire capacity and 180 employees to the making of steam hammers that are battering steel into forgings in every state in the union and every progressive, civilized country in the world. Its prominence and productivity has brought to the City of Erie a thriving trade that brought a wartime gross business peak of $8,500,000 in one year." -Erie Dispatch May 1949.

Erie Foundry Company changed its name to Erie Press Systems. They manufacture hydraulic and mechanical presses. 

I think the large building on the right has been demolished. There is a similar building with three arches one block east (on the opposite side of West 12th Street) that was once the home of Ball Engine Works.

Enjoy more historical facts and photos of Erie, PA at: oldtimeerie.blogspot.com