In January 1891, Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Co., a name often shortened to HSG, was established to manufacture steam engines. The company became known as a maker of superior engines, and the business thrived (over the company's lifetime they made over 17,000 engines). In 1897 it incorporated as Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Co., Inc. In 1915 HSG won a contract to manufacture large engine lathes for manufacturing explosive shells. After World War I ended, shell-manufacturing lathes were a glut on the market, and many of the makers of those lathes quickly gave it up. HSG stuck with it for a while, specializing in very large lathes, up to a whopping 96 inches of swing. It appears that the lathe business was not profitable, however, because they gave it up in the early 1920s. At this time the company seems to have been struggling somewhat.

In 1924 the company became the Stanwood Corp. In 1927 they introduced a new line of smokeless boilers which were extremely successful, and the company was again thriving. After a decade or so, sales slowed down and no new product took its place. The company closed its doors during the first half of the 1940s.

From 1916-12-28 Canadian Machinery

Information Sources

• In 1892, James B. Stanwood published a 48-page book, A Ready Reference for Engineers and Steam Users.
• 1893 catalog of Standard Self-contained Slide-valve Steam Engines.
• The H. S. G. heavy duty lathes were featured in the August 1917 issue of Boston Blue Bulletin from machinery distributor Hill, Clarke & Co.
• November 1920 Machinery.

  H. M. Houston, who was recently connected with the Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Co., has taken up executive duties as an active member of the William K. Stamets Co., Pittsburg, Pa., manufacturer of machine tools. Mr. Houston has been In close touch with the Stamets organization for a number of years, and is therefore somewhat familiar with his new duties.

• 1922 Moody's Manual of Investments.

  HOUSTON, STANWOOD & GAMBLE CO. (THE):—Incorporated in January, 1891, under the laws of Ohio; reincorporated in 1905. Manufactures throttling and shaft governor steam engines; horizontal tubular boilers and locomotives, firebox, portable boilers and accessories and large swing engine lathes and machine tools. Plant located at Covington, Ky., and covers 2½ blocks of ground.

  MANAGEMENT: OFFICERS: Wm. W. Bishop, Pres. and Gen. Mgr.; J. B. Stanwood, Sec.; F. J. Davis, Treas. DIRECTORS: W. W. Bishop, J. B. Stanwood, C. R. Houston, A. W. Pope, Jr., Edw. Goepper. ANNUAL MEETING: In February (no fixed date). MAIN OFFICE: Covington, Ky.

  BONDED DEBT: 1. Houston, Stan. & Gam. Co. first gold Authorized, $200,000. Dated March 1, 1911; due March 1, 1931. Interest paid M. & S. 1, at company’s office. Covington (Ky.) Trust Co., Trustee and Registrar. Coupon, $500 and $1,000. Callable after five years from date of issue at 105. Secured by a first mortgage on all slow assets of company (quick assets not recovered by bonds). None of these bonds have been issued, a part of the issue having been deposited with banks as security for loans. Company does not pay normal income tax.

  CAPITAL STOCK: 2. Houston, Stan. & Gam. Co. 6% cum. pref.: Authorized and outstanding, $200,000; par $100. Preferred as to assets and 6% cumulative dividends. No dividends paid from Jan. 1, 1911 to Dec. 31, 1921. Transfer Agent: Central Trust Co., Cincinnati. Listed on Cincinnati Stock Exchange. See rating below.

  3. Houston, Stan. & Gam. Co. common: Authorized and outstanding, $200,000; par $100. There is a prior issue of cumulative preferred on which dividends were in arrears at Dec. 31, 1921. No dividends paid to Dec. 31, 1921. See rating below.

  Transfer Agent: Central Trust Co., Cincinnati. Listed on Cincinnati Stock Exchange.

  PROVISIONAL RATINGS: As this company does not furnish an income account or other statistics which are essential for the rating of its securities in our standardized form, we insert ratings of a provisional character which are based on the known facts and on such special data as we have been able to obtain.
  2. Houston, Stan. & Gem. 6% cum. pfd.. .Rating, p. Cam.
  3. Houston, Stan. & Gam. common (p. $100).Rating, p. C.

• The 2009 book, The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky edited by P. A. Tenkotte and J. C. Claypool.

  Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Company. The sales office of the Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Company (HSG), which made steam engines, was in Cincinnati and "Cincinnati, O" was cast into the steam chest covers of many HSG engines, but the firm's factory was actually in Covington [KY]. The company was situated on the property once occupied by the Covington Locomotive and Manufacturing Works, between Second and Third Sts. along Philadelphia St. Beginning in 1891 and continuing through the mid-1920s, HSG manufactured more than 17,000 steam engines. Testifying to their excellence is the fact that most were still running by 1927...

  Partners Charles R. Houston, James B. Stanwood, and James N. Gamble formed their company in 1891. Only the previous year, the Cincinnati firm of Procter & Gamble had incorporated as the Procter & Gamble Company, with James N. Gamble serving as the company's first vice president. He was the son of James Gamble, the founder of Procter & Gamble, who died in the same year that Stanwood, Gamble and Houston launched their steam-engine manufacturing company. In 1897 the Covington business incorporated and became the Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Company Inc. Both Houston and Stanwood brought to the firm considerable experience at the Lane & Bodley Company, located directly across the Ohio River in Cincinnati...

  In 1904 the acquisition of the Western Foundry Company gave HSG the ability to manufacture its own gray-iron castings...

  When World War I erupted, HSG made production changes to aid the war efort. Early on, the factory converted to the production of engine lathes. In 1915 the Cincinnati Iron and Steel company paid $200,000 for 200 lathes to use in the manufacture of mortar shells. At the time, HSG employed 250 workers...

  After the war, in 1920, the Covington engine company's Stanwood Smokeless Boiler, boasting a patented downdraft, was marketed and became an immediate success. Architects across the United States regarded the company's new product as the cleanest and most economic boiler being made. Branch HSG sales offices were opened in many U.S. cities, and the firm also engaged in a lively overseas trade.

  HSG also built throttle governing engines and automatic cut-off engines. The latter featured governors that worked by inertia. Installed in the flywheel, the governors closely regulated engine speed, a refinement necessary in generating electricity. Southern sawmills relied upon the throttling engines. Most of the existing HSG engines are of the side-crank variety, but the company also produced center-crank models. The majority of the company's extant engines have balanced valves, but the firm advertised engines with standard slide valves.

  ...In December 1924 the Stanwood Corporation replace the Houston, Stanwood & Gamble Company Inc. By 1927 the Stanwood Corporation was producing Stanwood Smokeless Boilers, horizontal-return tubular boilers, locomotive firebox boilers, feed water heaters, steel smokestacks, tanks, and steam engines. Around 140 workers were employed. During the First half of the 1940s, the Stanwood Corporation ceased Production.
  ——Robert T. Rhode

• American Steam Engine Builders: 1800-1900 by Kenneth L. Cope, 2006 page 124
• YouTube video of an HSG steam engine.
• An HSG engine can be seen in a Mississippi park.