The Alamo Manufacturing Co. was organized in 1901 in Hillsdale,
Mich. The company’s name changed to the Alamo Engine Co. in 1917.
Starting with an initial investment of $25,000, the company
produced stationary gasoline engines as a power source in the era
before electricity was widely available.
By 1915, the company’s capital worth was $350,000, and about 300
built about 116,000 high quality engines ranging in size from 1-1/2
hp to 120 hp before the company was dissolved in 1932.
Because the sales function was left to other entities, who
attached their own nameplates, the Alamo is not as well known as it
might have been. The Lansing Co., Lansing, Mich., sold Alamo
engines and those from other builders as well. The Empire Cream
Separator Co. of Bloomfield, N.J., sold Empire Alamo engines. The
Moline Plow Co., Moline, Ill., named their Alamo engines “Flying
Dutchman” engines. The Rock Island Plow Co., Rock Island, Ill.,
sold more Alamos than all other agents.
