William and Charles Martin started their cast iron legacy in the early 1900s. The brothers established the King Stove & Range Company of Sheffield Alabama, the Martin Stove & Range Company of Florence Alabama, and the Martin Stove & Stamping Company of Huntsville, Alabama.
The three companies merged in 1974 to become Martin Industries, Inc. While the consolidated businesses had a short run of prosperity, in 2003 the company declared bankruptcy and closed.
Backstory
King Hardware purchase Lizzie Lowman Stove Co; birth of King Stove & Range
King Stove & Range Company of Sheffield Alabama was known as the Lizzie Lowman Stove Company prior to its purchase by King Hardware in 1905. 1
King Hardware purchased Lizzie Lowman for $9,000 – via 157 shares of King Hardware and $33.33 in cash. 2 William H. Martin – a retail salesman and stock manager for King Hardware since 1891 – was sent to Sheffield to manage the new concern – now named King Stove and Range – as its President.
Union Troubles at King Stove and Range
King Stove & Range Company had its share of labor disputes, which was not uncommon for the time. Many foundries had employees go out on strike; the companies opposed efforts of foundry workers to unionize. There were widespread reports of striking employees “strong-arming” non-union workers.
The labor unrest at King Stove & Range even resulted in a “street duel!”
In an act widely suspected to be arson at the hands of union workers, the King Stove & Range plant was set on fire.
09 Nov 1907, Sat,
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William and Charles Martin buy King Stove & Range
William Martin and his brother Charles purchased King Stove & Range from King Hardware in 1917.
George E. King (founder of King Hardware) was named President of King Stove & Range. William Martin was named vice-president, treasurer, and manager.
The King Stove & Range Company manufactured “Martin” coal and wood heaters, stoves, and ranges. Accessories for stoves such as cast iron hollow ware were also produced to be sold alongside the stoves, as was common at the time.
William and Charles Martin purchase Florence Foundry; renamed Martin Stove & Range Co.
The Martin brothers expanded their holdings in 1918 when they purchased the Florence Foundry. 3 The foundry was located in Florence Alabama, just across the Tennessee River from Sheffield.
The Florence foundry was reincorporated as Martin Stove & Range. Martin Stove & Range manufactured coal and wood stoves, cast iron hollow ware, skillets, and sad irons.
Third Enterprise Added: Martin Stamping & Stove Co.
In 1939, the Martin brothers further expanded their interests when they bought a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama at an auction. This company was renamed the Martin Stamping and Stove Company, and produced a small line of unvented gas heaters.4
War Efforts
During World War II, King Stove & Range and Martin Stove & Range manufactured magazine heaters for the military. Martin Stamping made bomb crates and other strategic materials.5
Merged and reorganized as Martin Industries
On January 1, 1974, all three companies (King Stove and Range, Martin Stove and Range, and Martin Stamping) merged and became Martin Industries, Inc.
During this reorganization, the Sheffield plant (fka King Stove and Range) discontinued its foundry
The Florence plant (fka Martin Stove and Range) became a highly automated foundry.
The Foundry of the Shoals acquires Florence Plant
In 1987, Martin Industries, Inc. sold the Martin family’s interest in the Florence plant to a partnership of employees at the facility. Operation continued at the foundry under the name “The Foundry of the Shoals.”
The Foundry of the Shoals shut its doors in 2002. It was sold for scrap in 2007.
Martin Industries files for Bankruptcy
Troubled times were also ahead for Martin Industries. Martin Industries announced its intent to file for bankruptcy protection at the end of 2002.
Martin Industries closed on March 7, 2003. The US Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of Martin Industries to Monessen Hearth Systems for 3.7 million dollars. This was less than Martin Industries owed on
A sad ending to a long run started by the two enterprising Martin brothers.
Sat, Mar 8, 2003 – 28 · The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
Additional reading:
Forgotten Foundry: Martin Stove & Range Co., Southern Cast Iron Magazine blog (March 14, 2018). Article was published in the Spring 2017 edition. Features interview with collector Jonathon Davis.
- Lizzie Lowman began business in Sheffield in 1898.
- The Metal Worker, A Weekly Journal of the Stove, Roofing, Cornice, Tin, Plumbing and Heating Trades, Volume 61, Issue 1 (1904).
- The Florence foundry had been in business since 1888, but was failing at the time of purchase by the Martin brothers. There is an interesting write-up of the Florence Stove Company by M.C. Fesmire, which you can access here. In part, the article states:
The Foundry became the Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company when Henry H. Theole moved his company to Commerce Street in 1888 from Evansville, Indiana. An important businessman in Florence, Thomas Jefferson Phillips partnered with Theole. Phillips owned many entrepreneurial ventures in the Sweetwater area of Florence.
When the Florence Stove Company commenced manufacturing, the factory produced stoves, heaters, wash pots, skillets, “sad” irons for ironing, and “dog” irons for fireplaces in a 150,000 square foot warehouse facility. Theole specialized in machine and jobbing work for repairing brass and iron molding and pattern work. Theole would hire local former slaves who became well-known locally for casting. The artisan former slave Pompeii worked at the company and cast sets of dog irons which can be seen at the W.C. Handy Museum in Florence. Workers who worked at the Florence Stove Company lived in a group of red frame houses owned by the company due south of the foundry on “Theole Row”. Theole also employed convicts at the Florence Stove Company as operators and common workers in the foundry.
MM.C. Fesmire, University of North Alabama, “The Foundry/Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company.”
- Martin Industries, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Martin Industries, Inc., Reference for Business.
- Martin Industries, Inc. – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Martin Industries, Inc., Reference for Business.