In late 1892 the Empire Machine Co. was organized by Archibald Davidson and others to manufacture steam engines and other products. During their early years they made steam engines and boilers but they began making laundry machinery at some point; in 1910 they got out of the steam-engine business and changed their name to the Triumph Laundry Machinery Co.

Information Sources

• 1892-12-31 The National Corporation Reporter, page 385. "OHIO... The Empire Machine Co., Hamilton; $12,000. Mfg. engines, boilers, saw mills, etc.; Dec. 23."
• 1893-01-05 The Iron Trade Review page 15.

  The Empire Machine Co., capital, $12,000; for building and manufacturing engines, boilers, saw mills, etc.; incorporators: Archibald Davidson, Thomas Dowrey (Dorney?), J. H. Webster, James R. Webster, Alexander Hunter.

• 1909 Hendricks' Commercial Register of the United States lists Empire Machine Co. of Hamilton, O. in the category of Engines (Traction).
• 2015 book, Hamilton's Industrial Heritage, by Richard N. Piland. Page 120.

  Archibald Davidson opened a boiler-manufacturing business around 1880 and began making traction engines as the Empire Machine Company in 1893. The office and works were located on Walnut Street, west of South Seventh Street. The building, seen above in an artist's rendering, was only 60 feet by 120 feet in size. By 1910, the company was incorporated as the Triumph Laundry Machinery Company... The company ceased production in 1919, and its property on Walnut Street was purchased by the Graf Motor Car Company.