The H. K. Porter Company was a manufacturer of light railway locomotives. Over the course of their locomotive manufacturing history between 1867 and 1950, the company built over 8,000, making it the largest manufacturer of small industrial locomotives in the U.S. After their era of locomotive manufacturing they diversified into other areas, including handheld power tools.
Founded in 1866 by Henry Kirke Porter and John Y. Smith, the original name of the firm was Smith & Porter, which specialized in building various kinds of industrial equipment. The company received their first order for a locomotive in 1867 and would go on to specialize in small industrial locomotives. The original company would go on to produce a total of 43 under this firm's name.
In 1871, a devastating fire completely destroyed the original shops. At this time, the partnership between Porter and Smith was dissolved with Smith going on to form Smith & Dawson Locomotives which eventually became National Locomotive Works. After the fire, Porter went on to form a new partnership with Arthur W. Bell to create Porter, Bell & Company, which lasted until 1878 with the death of Bell. A total of 223 locomotives were built under the name Porter, Bell & Co.
In 1878, after the loss of Arthur Bell, Porter renamed the company after himself, H. K. Porter & Co. In 1899, the company name was further simplified to the name H. K. Porter Co.
The capacity of their original shop of Smith and Porter Co was 15 to 25 locomotives per year. After the fire destroyed the first shops 1871, new manufacturing facilities were built with the capability to increase production and between 1872 through 1880, about 75 locomotives were produced per year. In 1881, the company enlarged their shop space and increased production to around 125 locomotives per year between 1881 an 1893. In 1894, the shops were once again enlarged to increase production capacity to a peak of around 400 locomotives per year in 1906.
The H. K. Porter erecting floor, from their 1908 catalog.
Production of locomotives continued to be very successful up until the start of the Great Depression in 1929, at which time the company began a long decline until they were forced to declare bankruptcy in 1939 when Thomas Evans acquired the company. Locomotive production increased again during WWII and Evans began purchasing other manufacturing companies to diversify his holdings. The H. K. Porter company built their last locomotive in 1950, at which time the parts business was sold to Davenport Locomotive Works in Iowa.
A few years after Porter's purchase of Henry Disston & Sons in 1955, Porter's Disston Division introduced a line of portable power tools.
The company has continued to manufacture other products under the H. K. Porter name to this day.
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