Here’s a vintage image of Mount Vernon’s Cooper Company

MOUNT VERNON — This vintage image of the C.&G. Cooper Company comes from 1914, just before the outbreak of the World War I.

The perspective of the illustration is looking toward the northwest, showing the angled turn that North Sandusky Street makes after intersecting with Hamtramck Street.

In the background can be seen the railroad tracks that once continued northward out of town. I’m not certain what the company is shown beyond the tracks.

The 1896 Caldwell Atlas shows the Mount Vernon Bridge Company just south of that spot, but nothing right there, where the spur from Cooper runs out to the main railroad tracks.

According to discussions on the Knox Time page, where this image was found, said that the American National Can Company was located in that spot, but not until some time later.

The roots of the Cooper company go back to 1833, when it was founded by Charles and Elias Cooper, young brothers who figured running an iron foundry would be preferable to coal mining.

Early products included carding machines, plows, and blowing engines for blast furnaces.

They began manufacturing stationary steam engines and sawmills as early as 1847, and started making portable steam engines in 1860.

In 1875, they made the innovation of horse-drawn steam engines, soon followed by self-propelled traction engines.

According to the 1874 trade publication Wiley’s American Iron Trade Manual, the company manufactured steam engines, sawmills, and general machinery, and employed 200 workers.

The Cooper designs were popular, moving over 15,000 units between 1853 and 1890, with many other manufacturers imitating their designs.

The company’s name slightly changed over the years, depending on who was managing it.

And then in 1929 it became the Cooper-Bessemer Company after a merger, and later Cooper Industries.

Examples of Cooper steam engines can be found at the Knox County Historical Society.