Nathaniel Lombard developed a governor for water wheels and in 1894 established the N. Lombard Improved Governor Co. in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The company relocated to Ashland in 1904, and shortened its name at some point to the Lombard Governor Co. Patent records show that the company made numerous improvements on their governors, adapting them for modern turbine wheels and for infeed lines that could be 1000 feet long.
During World War I, the company manufactured a line of water-powered lathes for producing shell components; these lathes were designed by consulting engineer Henry E. Warren on behalf of Lombard Governor Co. Once the war was over this product line was dropped.
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