Category: Technology

The BAKER MATERIALS HANDLlNG CO. was an outgrowth of Baker-Raulang, which survived as a company by refocusing its business from the manufacture of electric cars to the production of mobile trucks and equipment for the materials-handling industry.

BALL, WEBB C. CO. See WEBB C. BALL CO.

The BALTIMORE & OHIO RAILROAD, which owned several railroads serving the Cleveland area, was acquired by the CHESAPEAKE & OHIO in 1962, and the merged railroad, renamed the Chessie System, became part of the CSX CORP. in 1980. The Baltimore & Ohio was chartered in Maryland on 28 Feb.

BANCOHIO NATIONAL BANK was a major banking presence in the Cleveland area for more than a decade after its acquisition of Capital Natl. Bank. Capital Natl. was incorporated by Alex and Paul Wintner in 1929 as a state bank with $125,000 capital. Located at 1011 Huron Rd., Capital pioneered in mortgage loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) under the New Deal. By 1946 control of Capital Natl.

BANK ONE CLEVELAND NA was created when the Columbus-based Banc One Corp. took over the former Euclid Natl. Bank (ENB). Euclid Natl. began in 1953 as the Euclid Savings Assn. with $45 million in assets and was converted to a national bank in 1966, changing its name to Euclid Natl. Bank. In 1975 ENB became a subsidiary of the Winters Natl.

BANKING. The history of banking in Cleveland is closely linked to the city's economic growth and to national economic history.

BANKS AND SAVINGS & LOANS. During the canal era Cleveland was an intermediary center of trade and commerce, and as the network of railroads displaced canals as a more reliable form of transport, the city became an industrial center.

The BANKS-BALDWIN LAW PUBLISHING CO., located in Cleveland since 1932, is the oldest law publishing house in the U.S. David Banks established the firm of Gould & Banks in New York in 1804 in order to publish law books that would be less expensive than those imported from England. After Banks's death in 1871, his sons continued the business as Banks & Bros., but in 1880 two sons divided the company.

BARDONS & OLIVER, INC., is one of the chief machine-tool firms in Cleveland. Two former Warner & Swasey officials, Geo. Bardons and John Oliver, founded the firm in 1891 at 3 Water (W. 9th) St. Originally it manufactured bicycle hubs and the machines to make them; eventually it became a major manufacturer of turret lathes and parts, special machinery, and pipe and tube mill equipment.

BARKER OFFICE SUPPLY CO., for many years known as S. Barker & Sons Co., is the oldest office-supply house in Cleveland. On 7 June 1871, Samuel Barker opened a small printing business in a room on Union Ln., with 2 small presses, a small steam engine, a hand cutter, and stationery stock. Within a few years it moved into the Atwater Bldg. on the Old Viaduct.

BEACON HAUSHEER MARINE CO. is a Great Lakes ship chandler whose history dates back to the time when cargo ships on the Great Lakes were sailing schooners and sidewheelers. In 1854 the company, originally owned by Geo. Hausheer, first opened for business as a meat market. Louis Hausheer became actively involved in the business in 1881, and the company then became known as Hausheer & Son. Located at 1220 Old River Rd.

BEARINGS, INC. See >APPLIED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES

BEATTIE, H. W. & SONS CO. See H. W. BEATTIE & SONS CO.

The BING CO. was one of Ohio's largest furniture stores. Louis S. Bing and Elias Nathan opened a retail furniture store 24 Mar. 1891, on Seneca (W. 3rd) St. in Cleveland's retail trading center with 10 employees. The partnership lasted only a few years, and by 1895 Bing had bought out Nathan's interest, continuing business under his own name until the early 1900s when his younger brother, Sol, became a junior partner.

BINGHAM CO. See W. BINGHAM CO.

BLONDER CO., one of the largest dealers in wallpapers and paints, was established in 1918 as the Milner-Blonder Co. by Nathan Milner and Harry Blonder. Milner had been a cigarmaker and Blonder a paperhanger; both lived on E. 37th St. near Woodland.