Years In Operation: 1916-1923 Models Built: Cars and Trucks Approximate Number of Cars Built: 210 cars/2000 trucks Factory Address: 505 Riverine Dr. and surrounding area / Storage Building: 531-533 West Front Street Officers of the Company:
A.C. George: President(Ohio)
Francis P. Diemer: Secretary and Treasurer(Ohio)
C.E. Donnelly: General Manager(Ohio)
F.M. McGrew(Ohio)
O.A. Diemer(Ohio)
Malcolm Hall Ayer: General Manager(Ohio)-G.M. for Reya (his name backwards)
J.W. Oswald: General Manager(MI) Some time during 1918
W.J. Chase: President(MI)
C.E. Culver: Vice President(MI)
W.G. Rath: Vice President( MI April 1920)
Frank Trude: Secretary and Treasurer(MI)
Leon Gauntlett: General Manager and Chief Seller of Stock(MI)
H.C. Carter: Factory Manager(Previously with Dort and as Republic Chief Inspector)
C.D. Peet: Board of Directors(April 1920-MI)
J.W. Patchin: Board of Directors(April 1920-MI)
C.S. May: Board of Directors(April 1920-MI)
E.G. Arniz: Board of Directors(April 1920-MI)
Stanley Rae: Sales Manager(unknown)
J.E. Kilpatrick: Service Manager(March 1920)
E.A. Errft: Salesman(Late 1920)
What can i see today?
There are 2 known examples of Napoleon trucks known to exist and a handful of cars. One of the trucks is owned by Hagerty Insurance and is occasionally on display at their headquarters. The display changes every month. Address: 141 Rivers Edge Drive, Traverse City MI 49684 Phone: (800) 922-4050 Website: https://www.hagerty.com/
The factory is no longer standing. The property where it once sat is now occupied by the Riverine Apartments Address: 505 Riverine Drive, Traverse City MI 49684/Complex property within the Boardman Lake Trail
There was a storage building used by Napoleon as well as the factory. The building is no longer standing. Address: 531-533 West Front Street, Traverse City MI 49686
In April of 1920, the Napoleon offices were moved to the Traverse City State Bank building in order to utilize every square inch of floor space in the factory to build vehicles. Address: 102 West Front Street, Traverse City MI 49684
The story
Napoleon was organized in April of 1916 in Napoleon, Ohio. The men that formed the company had previous auto experience:
A.C. George: Formerly Chief Engineer for the Fostoria Light Car Company
G.W. Russell: Also of Fostoria
F.N. McGrew: Formerly with Auburn in Indiana
An announcement was made in 1916 stating the company was going to start producing cars...
The company started out and had a problem almost immediately. They had too many orders or not enough machinery to fulfill the orders. They promptly looked for a new place to relocate. In the meantime Traverse City was looking to have an automobile manufacturer come to town because they were about to lose one of their 2 major industries. It turned out the Oval Wood Dish Company was about to relocate to Tupper Lake, New York because of the lack of wood in the area....
A deal was made to get the company to Traverse City... $75,000 in working capital and free rent for 3 years in the old William Flooring Company building...
The company accepted and announced it would be moving to Traverse City in June of 1917...
According to this article from July 1917, it was only the car manufacturing that was to move to Traverse City. The truck division would stay behind and become Reya. They were said to produce a small number of cars and trucks into the 1918 model year....
The company was reorganized into the Traverse City Motor Car Company in August of 1917 and$75,000 of stock began to be sold in $10 shares. This would give the city the opportunity to get on the ground floor of the thriving automotive and truck business. The company started producing cars in November of 1917...
Different models were offered including:
A four-passenger four-person roadster
A six passenger model
A five-passenger six cylinder touring car
In 1918 Rennie's Oil Company opened their first gas station on the northwest corner of Union and State. They displayed one of the first Napoleon cars and were also direct distributors...
Business seemed to take off quickly. This financial statement from 1918 shows the company anticipating building 864 trucks in 1919...
This letter urges the company to raise an additional $80k in late 1918...
In March of 1919 the capital was increased to $500k...
This ad from April 1919 shows the company was going to expand and concentrate exclusively on truck production. New buildings were going to be built to replace those that were burned...
The cover of a Napoleon manual...
A local newspaper ad...
Pitches and ads for the company continued to be put in the paper in 1919...
Advertising was working for the company as stated here in late 1919. Sales were aimed not only for Michigan but also in other states like Texas and Nebraska. An export office in New York was also opened...
In December of 1919 this photo and article show the durability and versatility of the Napoleon...
December was also the end of the line for Napoleon cars. The company had stated plans to stop automobile production and on December 1st the last car rolled off the line...
In January of 1920 production was ramping up. Manufacturing in Traverse City turned out to be an advantage for the company because of the low cost of living...
H.C. Carter had come to the company bringing great expertise from the automotive and truck worlds. He had worked with Republic Truck in Alma who had been the world's leading producer of trucks in 1917.
By March of 1920 Napoleon was encouraged yet skeptical of the trucking industry as a whole. Though sales were good it was thought that the success was due to a shortage of railroad cars...
March saw expansion of many dealers and J.E. Kilpatrick appointed as Service Manager....
In April, new officers were elected and the offices were moved to the Traverse City State Bank building...
The company was still expanding in May and didn't slow down even through the railroad strike...
As business continued to increase, there was a vote to increase capitalization from $500k to $2.5 million....
Napoleon kept up on what was happening in the industry and delivering the customer what they needed...
The idea for a mobile office came about to make things more convenient on the dealers and distributors and was great for customer service and marketing...
Expansion continued with new distributors in the U.S. and overseas...
C.D. Peet saw transportation changing with the times and noted that buses would be prominent in places like New York City where trolley cars ruled the streets....
Late 1920 saw an announcement of a new truck model, new truck prices, and more plans for expansion...
In early 1921 the business was quite healthy or so it seemed....
New officers were elected and stock dividends were paid in March but the fortunes of the company would soon turn around...
Almost as quickly as things were looking up, by mid 1921 a recession had hit and the money started to run out. Chances are the abundance of trucks after the war helped put the company in a bad position. Napoleon trucks continued to be produced until 1923 but at a very slow pace. In 1923 the company went bankrupt and the plant was sold to the Zapf Fruit Package Company.
references
Traverse Area District Library
Library of Congress-Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps-1907/1920
