Lobdell Car Wheel Company.

The Lobdell Car Wheel Company was formed in 1867 in Wilmington, De., as the successor to the partnership of Bush & Lobdell. During the late nineteenth century it was the largest manufacturer of cast railroad car wheels.

Bush & Lobdell, a partnership of machinist Charles Bush and his nephew George G. Lobdell, was formed in 1838 following the death of Bush's previous partner Jonathan Bonney. The firm started as a general machine shop and foundry, but in 1836 it began to specialize in the manufacture of cast railroad car wheels. A new foundry was built in 1844. Bush died in 1855, and Lobdell bought out Bush's heirs in 1859.

The Lobdell Car Wheel Company was organized in the spring of 1867. An entirely new plant was built on the Christiana River in south Wilmington in 1881-82, giving the firm one of the largest car wheel factories in the world. In 1880 Lobdell purchased three cold-blast charcoal iron furnaces in southwestern Virginia to insure a constant supply of raw materials. The firm also manufactured chilled rolls for paper machines and flour mills as well as chilled railroad rails. The firm went out of business ca. 1950.