General Electric Company The Erie Works Story Begins, 1906-1911

Abstract

On August 7 1907, the Erie Daily Times announced in bold headlines, "General Electric will come to Erie for a certainty." These last three words of assurance brought a welcome relief to an apprehensive Erie community after several weeks of uncertainty over the possible withdrawal of General Electric from Erie. The orderly progress of establishing a new General Electric plant in Erie had been suddenly threatened by two obstacles in quick succession. First a group of speculators maneuvered to extend 10th Street thru the recently acquired General Electric property. This would bisect the property and upset the desired plant layout plans and operation. The second blow followed immediately after with a proposal to build a belt line railroad on a route that would block the General Electric plant from direct access to the main line railroads and compel the use of the belt line to do the switching at a price. Both of these moves were unacceptable to General Electric and were vigorously opposed to the point of considering abandoning Erie and relocating the plant elsewhere unless these obstacles were removed. As soon as news of this situation was made public, alarm and recrimination spread through the Erie community. However, the press, the business organizations and public opinion, all favorable to General Electric, acted in protest to these schemes and brought pressure for a final resolution of the difficulty and an amicable understanding between parties.