Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #1 (1905) is one of four contributing buildings in the Desmet Avenue Warehouse Historic District of Spokane. The furthest west of the four, the Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #1, has recently undergone major surgery. We assume it was Burgan's Furniture Warehouse #2 which adjoined the building on its east side, and which has recently been removed. The east side of the building, the lower two floors of which had long been covered by the adjoining warehouse, is now open, allowing one to more easily read the painted sign of the building's original inhabitant, the
, purveyors of farm implements.
Today a little remembered name, at one time the Parlin & Orendorff Company was the number one plow manufacturer in the world. Though the name of the Parlin & Orendorff Company was't adopted until 1860, the roots of the company go back to the fabrication of the first steel plow in 1842 by the team of Culton and Parlin. Read some of the story of the company below.
Parlin & Orendorff Company
Born in 1817 in the small farming community of Acton, Massachusetts, William Parlin brought with him from his homeland to Canton a mere twenty-five cents, three hammers, and an apron. Young Parlin had traveled through his own state then gradually drifted west through Illinois to St. Louis, where he practiced blacksmithing for a year. Since his success seemed minimal, he decided to travel up the Illinois River to Copperas Creek and proceeded to Canton. There, Parlin started his career as an inventive and skilled blacksmith.
Parlin began his innovative work as an apprentice for Robert Culton, who purchased a blacksmith shop after moving to Canton in 1836. Located at 231 East Elm Street, this small shop would later become the Parlin and Orendorff factory. Culton appreciated Parlin's talent and soon named him a full partner.
The partnership dissolved just two years after it began because of Parlin's urge to work on his own. Alone, he constructed a small foundry on the northwest corner of Main and Walnut. Just as Parlin began to improve in his trade, tragically in 1847, an enormous blaze engulfed the foundry. In despair, Parlin went back to Culton's shop, now managed by his son, John Culton. Parlin and John Culton worked together for a few years, until Parlin bought out Culton. Again, Parlin produced plows on his own.
William Parlin's dynamic partnerships with Thompson Maple and William Orendorff eventually led to Parlin's success in business. As the demand for Parlin's plows grew in the early 1840s, Maple realized a business opportunity in Parlin's plows; he proposed a partnership. Since Parlin had financial problems he accepted Maple's offer. In the summer of 1846 the Maple-Parlin firm officially began business.
In 1848 the Maple-Parlin firm dissolved due to Thompson Maple's retirement. Though alone again, Parlin continued his success.
As a result of the success of Parlin's plow, he decided to take on another partner. In 1852 Parlin's brother-in-law, William Orendorff became his full partner. Similar to the earlier years with Maple, Parlin remained in charge of the company's manufacturing, while Orendorff acted as sales manager. Called William Parlin and Company until 1860, Parlin and Orendorff agreed to rename the company Parlin and Orendorff.
Parlin and Orendorff produced many successful farm implements. Parlin invented implements such as the walking cultivator in 1856, the shovel plow in 1857, the riding cultivator, and the first lister in 1865. Altogether, the plow factory produced more than fourteen hundred different sizes and styles of farm implements.
The factory experienced some drastic changes in management around 1900. In 1901, four years after William Orendorff died, William Parlin also died. William H. Parlin and Ulysses G. Orendorff inherited management of the plow factory after their fathers' deaths. The factory grew until 1919 when it ranked number one in the plow manufacturing industry. The factory had grown as much as it could when the two sons decided to sell the factory to the International Harvester Company. The factory became known as the Canton Works, and they continued to produce farm implements until 1983, when it shut down due to financial problems.
From the Northern Illinois University