Marion No. 21 Shovel Crane - Wellsville, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 04.023 W 091° 33.874
15S E 624181 N 4325197
Two old cranes are displayed next to each other in a field behind an old auto repair facility.
Waymark Code: WM16774
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2022
Views: 3
County of display: Montgomery County
Location of display: E. Hudson St. (MO-19), just N. of Water St., Wellsville
Built: 1917 to 1923
Built by: Marion Steam Shovel Company
"This Model 21 Marion steam shovel was built from 1917 to 1923 by a Marion Steam Shovel Company, founded by Edward Huber, George King, and Henry Barnhart. It is approximately four yards (3.65 meters) long. Steam shovels were invented in 1835, but the basic design of the steam shovel remained virtually unchanged for almost fifty years. Henry M. Barnhart operated these machines but became increasingly frustrated with breakdowns and the resulting work delays. In the early 1880s Barnhart designed and built a new steam shovel. Edward Huber, a Marion industrialist, was impressed with it. Barnhart and Huber obtained a patent on Barnhart's shovel in 1883. The success of the first unit sold led to the founding, in 1884, of the Marion Steam Shovel Company by Barnhart, Huber, and George W. King. After a shaky start, the Marion Steam Shovel Company became the dominant manufacturer of steam shovels. Its machines were used for dredging, mining, unloading logs and ballast, and railroad building. By 1910, an estimated 80% of all steam shovels sold were made in Marion. Marion steam shovels helped build the Panama Canal and Hoover Dam. In the 1960s, the company, then known as the Marion Power Shovel Company or more familiarly as "The Shovel," built NASA's rocket crawler-transporter. The company went out of business in 1997." ~ Ohio Memory Connection