Jewett Car Company
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 1850 |
| Defunct | 1919 |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Headquarters | Jewett, Ohio, USA |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Locomotives High-speed trains Intercity and commuter trains Trams People movers Signalling systems |
The Jewett Car Company was a prominent American manufacturer in the early 1900s, focusing on the production of streetcars and interurban rail vehicles.
History
Established in 1893 in Jewett, Ohio, the company moved its operations in 1904 to a new plant located on South Williams Street in Newark, Ohio, yet it continued to operate under the same name. The Newark facility grew to become one of the largest employers within the city. Among its significant clients was the municipality of San Francisco, California, which acquired numerous streetcars from Jewett. Throughout its years of activity, the firm manufactured in excess of 2,000 streetcars made from wood and steel, supplying transit systems across 26 US states as well as Canada.
The business discontinued production in 1919, largely due to the expanding popularity of automobiles which reduced the need for public transit vehicles.
A number of Jewett cars have been preserved and remain functional in various museums, such as:
- Brooklyn Rapid Transit streetcar number 4547 (1906) at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine.
- Chicago Aurora and Elgin interurban cars 319 and 320 (1914) housed at the Illinois Railway Museum in Illinois and Midwest Electric Railway in Iowa.
- Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee interurban car 251 (1917), exhibited at the Illinois Railway Museum.
- Connecticut Company suburban car 775 (1904) displayed at the Shore Line Trolley Museum in Connecticut.
- San Francisco Municipal Railway streetcars numbered 130 and 162 (1914).
- London and Port Stanley Railway interurban car 8 (1915), preserved at Halton County Radial Railway in Ontario.
- Pacific Electric interurban car 1001 (1913), located at Orange Empire Railway Museum in California.
In addition to operational units, several non-functioning Jewett vehicles are maintained within multiple railway museums across North America.
Products
- San Francisco’s Type "B" Iron Monster streetcars
- Electric railcars supplied to Milan and Norwalk
- Wooden rapid transit vehicles for Chicago’s South Side, Metropolitan West Side, and Northwestern Elevated Railroads
- Wooden interurban cars built for Aurora Elgin and Chicago Railroad (later known as Chicago Aurora and Elgin Railroad)