Years In Operation: 1898-1908 Models Built: Steam-Powered/Elmer and Clone/Touring Car Approximate Number of Cars Built: 4 Factory Address: First address unknown and later 237 S. Cedar St.(circa 1901-1902) Officers of the Company:
Elmer F. Johnson: President and Owner
What can i see today?
There is one vehicle made by Elmer Johnson known to exist. The vehicle known as the "Elmer" resides in the Kalkaska County Historical Museum.. Address: 339-373 S. Cedar St., Kalkaska MI Phone: (231) 258-4854 Website: http://downtownkalkaska.com/KalkaskaHistoricalSocietyandMuseum
The second shop was constructed at 237 South Cedar Street and remained until approximately 2019. The building has been knocked down and is now just a field. Photos were taken of the building in 2017.
The story
Elmer F. Johnson was born in 1863 and moved to Kalkaska MI around 1890 from Detroit...
The Elmer F. Johnson Cycle Works was established in 1893....
It is not known where the original bicycle shop was located but could have been on his property on Lincoln Street. This reference from 1898 shows a residence next door to the location and the second states it was at the "north part of town" which is where the Johnson house was.
Johnson built and worked on many different items as seen here in the first local ad for the business in January of 1896...
The shop had to be expanded as stated in December of 1896 as business began to take off...
Johnson made local bicycles called the "Kalkaska" as shown here in this ad from 1898 and started a bicycle club putting nearly all of Kalkaska on wheels. It is rumored he also built bicycles for Montgomery Ward...
The shop was to be expanded in June of 1901 but by July it had become apparent that it would have to move to the new location...
The new location was at 237 S. Cedar Street or "Main Street" at the time...
The first mention of Johnson constructing a car came in February of 1902....
In December he was still tinkering away and stated that it would be perhaps the first steam-powered vehicle built in Michigan...
In April of 1904 it appeared Johnson was still working on the vehicle...
By June and July the vehicle was completed and being test driven...
By October the car was finished...
This vehicle was sold to H.E.. Stover who was the druggist in town and a good friend of Johnson.. This is verified by a good friend of Johnson's daughter Elizabeth....
In December Johnson announced he would be building 2 more vehicles....
One would be sold to Stover as he was not pleased with the steam vehicle. It is most likely this vehicle was finished in 1905 and is the surviving vehicle in the museum. The vehicle was originally titled as a 1905 model and may explain the inscribed wheel centers. Mr. and Mrs. Stover are pictured below...
This photo shows the steam-powered car as well as the 1905 model possibly at the Johnson's cabin at Torch Lake. Pictured are the Johnsons, Stovers, and C. Kryger who owned a store in town.
The second vehicle was nearing completion in June of 1907 and was to be sold to Dr. Pearsall who was the town physician until 1914...
The car was finished in August and was built presumably identical to the 1905 model. This is where the name "Elmer" was officially given...
1907 was a busy year for Johnson in many ways. He was expanding his shop for automobiles and seems to have had a brief stint as an auto dealer...
The last car built by Johnson was a touring car which he built specifically for his family. It was completed by May of 1908...
The new vehicle was driven to this trip of the Johnson and Stover families to Torch Lake in 1910...
The last recorded vehicle Johnson "produced" was a truck built out of the ruins of a Ford car in 1914...
Johnson continued working on vehicles and many different things through the years including the first tractor in Kalkaska in 1918...
By 1921 Johnson was apparently no longer running the business and by 1925 the Johnson family left Kalkaska and moved to Grand Rapids...
Elmer F. Johnson passed away in 1935 at the age of 72. His father also passed at the age of 72 as stated here and was a veteran of the Civil War as well as an early pioneer of the county...
Years later the "Elmer" was in the paper for sale. The whereabouts of the other vehicles are unknown...
The car was bought and ultimately given to the museum in the early 1970's. It was driven in parades until 1979 and is now on permanent display.
Here is Rose Ash with the vehicle outside of the museum and a photo of Rose along with the previous owner who had it from 1953 until Rose purchased it. It was said to have been found in a barn...
