Move to a Larger Brooklyn Workshop

In 1870, we moved from the small workshop behind the Bohannan family home into larger premises at the corner of Broadway and Kossuth Place in Brooklyn, New York. A company history published in our 1922 catalogue records that growth had made the move necessary and that lockmaking could now be carried out on a larger scale. The new plant initially used foot-powered lathes, stamping machines and drilling equipment. Steam power was not installed at the time of the 1870 move: the 1922 company account states that it was introduced three years later, around 1873, to provide both power for machinery and heat for the building. Later descriptions of the Broadway and Kossuth facility show that it developed into a more extensive manufacturing operation with a brass foundry, machine shop, polishing and finishing rooms, and packing and shipping facilities.