What’s in a Name?

By Bill Vossler
Published on January 1, 2006
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Above: This Elgin tractor 9-18 model was eventually re-rated a 10-20.
Above: This Elgin tractor 9-18 model was eventually re-rated a 10-20.
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Left: This photo shows the participants in the first annual Rock Island sales force school of instruction in 1920. Though the school was held in Minneapolis, the tractor was manufactured in, and named for, Rock Island, Ill.Above: This Minneapolis-Moline Z was run during the Albany (Minn.) Pioneer Days. This tractor is named after a pair of cities: Minneapolis and Moline, Ill.
Left: This photo shows the participants in the first annual Rock Island sales force school of instruction in 1920. Though the school was held in Minneapolis, the tractor was manufactured in, and named for, Rock Island, Ill.Above: This Minneapolis-Moline Z was run during the Albany (Minn.) Pioneer Days. This tractor is named after a pair of cities: Minneapolis and Moline, Ill.
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Above: This 1919 Fairmont tractor was named for the city of its manufacture, Fairmont, Minn.
Above: This 1919 Fairmont tractor was named for the city of its manufacture, Fairmont, Minn.
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Above: The Peoria tractor, manufactured in Peoria, Ill., at a tractor contest in about 1918.
Above: The Peoria tractor, manufactured in Peoria, Ill., at a tractor contest in about 1918.
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Right: The Sandusky 15-35 Model E tractor was manufactured in Sandusky, Ohio.
Right: The Sandusky 15-35 Model E tractor was manufactured in Sandusky, Ohio.
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Above: This huge Minneapolis 35-70, owned by John and Lorraine Klaseus of LeSueur, Minn., was in the daily parade at the 2005 LeSueur County Pioneer Power show.
Above: This huge Minneapolis 35-70, owned by John and Lorraine Klaseus of LeSueur, Minn., was in the daily parade at the 2005 LeSueur County Pioneer Power show.
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Right: The Port Huron tractor followed the successful Port Huron steam engines. All were produced in Port Huron, Mich., by Port Huron Engine & Thresher Co.
Right: The Port Huron tractor followed the successful Port Huron steam engines. All were produced in Port Huron, Mich., by Port Huron Engine & Thresher Co.
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Above: This Rock Island tractor appears to have seen better days.
Above: This Rock Island tractor appears to have seen better days.
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Left: The Wichita tractor was manufactured in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Left: The Wichita tractor was manufactured in Wichita Falls, Texas.
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Left: The Sandusky 10-20 was the first tractor made by Dauch Manufacturing Co. of Sandusky, Ohio.
Left: The Sandusky 10-20 was the first tractor made by Dauch Manufacturing Co. of Sandusky, Ohio.
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Left: A rear view of the Shelby 15-30 tractor, manufactured in Shelby, Ohio, from 1919-1922 by Shelby Truck & Tractor Co.
Left: A rear view of the Shelby 15-30 tractor, manufactured in Shelby, Ohio, from 1919-1922 by Shelby Truck & Tractor Co.
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Above: This Model R Waterloo Boy, from about 1917, was displayed at the 2005 Albany (Minn.) Pioneer Days.
Above: This Model R Waterloo Boy, from about 1917, was displayed at the 2005 Albany (Minn.) Pioneer Days.

Some tractors named after the cities where they
were manufactured are well-known: Minneapolis, Minneapolis-Moline
(Minneapolis and Moline, Ill.), Waterloo Boy (Waterloo, Iowa),
Buffalo-Pitts (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Cleveland. However, other
lesser-known tractors were the pride and joy of their hometowns,
and several even carried those cities’ names.

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