Marion Steam Shovel

The Marion Steam Shovel Company built primary tools for American civil engineering for more than one hundred years. Founded in 1884 by Henry M. Barnhart, George W. King, and Edward Huber, the company’s patent steam shovels helped revolutionize railway and road construction and were used in building the Panama Canal, Hoover Dam, and the Holland Tunnel. The company also built ditchers, log loaders, dredges, and draglines, including some of the largest land vehicles ever built. Its first electric machine was built in 1915, and in 1946 the name changed to Marion Power Shovel. In the mid-twentieth century, the company employed 2,500 workers. In the 1960s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected Marion to build the crawlers that transport spacecraft to their launch pads. Hundred-year rival Bucyrus International acquired and closed the company in 1997.

Marion, Ohio · United States