Plate
- Object Name:
- Plate
- Object ID:
- 2024.033
- Creator:
- Laconia Car Company Works -- Manufacturer
- Place of Origin:
- Laconia, NH
- Date:
- 1897-1928
- Description:
- Plate. Laconia Car Company Works builder's plate, brass with red paint, 1897-1928. The plate is embossed, "THE LACONIA CAR CO. WORKS / BUILDERS / LACONIA, N.H."
- Material:
- Brass
Paint - Dimensions:
- W-1.625 L-8.375 inches
- Provenance:
- Manufactured by The Laconia Car Co. Works. Charles Ranlet started manufacturing railroad cars in Laconia when a railroad line reached the city in 1848. Enjoying steady growth, his firm became the city's largest industry by the late 19th century and made rolling stock for railroads as well as horse-drawn streetcars and electric streetcars. After going through several changes in ownership and name, the firm became the Lacoina Car Company in 1882. In 1897 the name changed again to the Laconia Car Company Works following its acquisition by Frank Jones and associates. A focus on wood-bodied electric streetcars eventually put the firm at a disadvantage in the early 20th century as buses became a more popular form of mass transit, and railroads increasingly preferred freight and passenger cars built of metal. The firm closed in 1928.
- Credit Line:
- Gift of William W. Upton
- Subjects:
- Transportation, Transportation industry, Trains, Railroad cars, Vehicles
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