Caterpillar Tractor Company

Organization

Biography

The Caterpillar Tractor Company was formed in 1925 when the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton, California, and Peoria, Illinois, merged with the C.L. Best Tractor Company of San Leandro, California. In the years before World War I, Benjamin Holt invented the “caterpillar tractor,” which moved on heavy, belted-metal tracks rather than wheels. The tracks prevented the vehicle from sinking in the mud. Both the Holt and C. L. Best companies manufactured track-laying tractors for construction and earth moving, and Holt also made combined harvesters for farming use. The company grew steadily from 1925 to 1930. In 1928, Caterpillar Tractor Company added road-building equipment to its product line when it merged with the Russell Grade Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis. The Caterpillar Tractor Company’s headquarters were located in Peoria, Illinois

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Caterpillar Tractor Company Photograph collection

FOUND IN: Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School

Collection Identifier: Mss:537 1927-1932 C359

Overview:

This collection includes black and white photographic prints that document the history of the Caterpillar Tractor Company and provide information about methods of farming, road building and construction in use in the early part of the twentieth century.