Novo
Engine Company in World War Two
Lansing, MI
1880 - 1890 as Cady & Glassbrook
1890 - 1906 as Hildreth Manufacturing Company
1906-1954 as Novo Engine Company
This page added 4-13-2022.
In the early 20th Century, the Novo Engine
Company of Lansing, MI was a large and significant producer of gasoline
engines and pumps that were sold on a world-wide basis. It was a
continuation of both the Cady & Glassbrook Company and the Hildreth
Manufacturing Company, which were producing engines with the Novo trade
name. In 1906 Clarence E. Bement purchased the Hildreth
Manufacturing Company and renamed it Novo Engine Company. The
company made engines for a variety of uses. These included
pumping, sawing, hoisting, electrical generator sets, and air
compressors. It also built pumps for use with its engines.
This is another one of the Lansing companies
of which I was unaware until I began exploring Lansing's contribution to
the winning of World War Two. While the company was very
successful in the early half of the 20th Century, World War Two was its
last hurrah. In 1949 it filed for bankruptcy and hoped to
reorganize. Instead it was sold off to two different companies.
In March 1950 the Novo Engine Company's foundry was sold to the Detroit
Gray Iron Foundry for $102,000 in Federal Court. In December 1950
the main 170,000 square foot machining and assembly plant was sold to
the Schott family of Cincinnati, OH for $630,000. The intention of
the Schott family was to increase production at the plant and increase
employment. However, the days of the Novo engine were in the past,
and in 1954 the Detroit Gray Iron Foundry purchased it from the Schott
family. The Novo Engine Company was gone. The reason I was
unaware of Novo Engine Company until 2021, is that in 1954 I had not yet
started grade school.
The 170,000 square foot plant that was located
on five acres was subdivided among other
companies in the succeeding years and still exists today. The buildings have been well
maintained and the American Tooling Center is the main, and maybe the
sole occupant of the facility. See my photos of the plant in "Novo
Plant" section below.
This 1919 Novo engine ran on gasoline,
kerosene, and natural gas. It is on display at the R.E. Olds
Transportation Museum in Lansing, MI. Author's photo.
This was a four-stroke water cooled engine
that produced 4hp @ 475 rpm. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Novo Company
World War Two Production: The company had five hundred
employees during World War Two who produced $3,959,000 of pumps for the
U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Army. This amount does not
include any sub-contracting work it did for other companies.
Table 6 - Novo Engine Company's
Major World War Two Contracts
The information below
comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply Contracts,
June 1940 through September 1945." This was published by the
Civilian Production Administration, Industrial Statistics Division.
|
Product - Customer |
Contract Amount |
Contract Awarded
|
Completion
Date |
Engines - Treasury |
$228,000 |
1-1942 |
6-1942 |
Engines - Treasury |
$228,000 |
1-1942 |
5-1942 |
Pumps - Army |
$83,000 |
10-1942 |
1-1943 |
Engines Gasoline -
Army |
$477,000 |
12-1942 |
6-1943 |
Pumps - Army |
$138,000 |
2-1943 |
11-1943 |
Engine Assemblies -
Army |
$378,000 |
4-1943 |
8-1943 |
Centrifugal Pumps -
Army |
$140,000 |
6-1943 |
6-1944 |
Pumps - Army |
$137,000 |
7-1943 |
11-1944 |
Centrifugal Pumps -
Army |
$216,00 |
9-1943 |
11-1944 |
Engines - Army |
$91,000 |
10-1943 |
8-1944 |
Gasoline Engines -
Army |
$76,000 |
11-1943 |
9-1944 |
Gasoline Engines -
Army |
$96,000 |
11-1943 |
9-1944 |
Gasoline Engines -
Army |
$81,000 |
11-1943 |
10-1944 |
Diaphragm Pumps -
Army |
$163,000 |
11-1943 |
12-1944 |
Centrifugal Pumps -
Army |
$632,000 |
5-1944 |
12-1945 |
Engineers Equipment -
Army |
$88,000 |
12-1944 |
12-1945 |
Centrifugal Pumps -
Army |
$282,000 |
1-1945 |
12-1945 |
Diaphragm Pumps -
Army |
$425,000 |
1-1945 |
12-1945 |
Total |
$3,959,000 |
|
|
The Novo Plant: The
historical record indicates that Novo moved to this location in 1912.
Today the plant is still in existence.
This Sanborn shows the Novo Engine Company's
main plant in 1951. This is when it was owned by the Schott
Family. The plant would have looked very similar to this during
World War Two.
This current Google Maps satellite view
shows that the former Novo factory still exists just as it did in 1951.
This is looking at the south side of the
former Novo plant. It is now the American Tooling Center.
The street used to be Sheridan Street. It is now Oakland Avenue
and is one-way west. Author's photo.
This photo is at the north end of the
complex at the corner of Porter and Cass Streets. Cass Street used
to run to the south along the building. The original brick has
been painted over and the windows partially covered up. The
building is in excellent condition. Author's photo.
This is the east side of the former Novo
plant complex along Ballard Street. Near the left of the photo, a
small section of the original red brick building can be seen.
Author's photo.
This is that area. Author's photo.
This is the east end of the south building.
To the right part of the photo, more original brick can be seen.
Author's photo.
The original brick of the former Novo Engine
Company can be seen in this photo. Author's photo.
|