Paving the Way

Charity Heller
Oregon High School, Oregon

In 1895 Edward D. Etnyre, an inventive and industrious man, started to invent machines for his own farm work. He was among the early settlers of Oregon, having come from Maryland. He was very interested in the welfare of his fellow men. He designed and made products for other men, as good as he would for himself. This personal involvement with each product set the stage for the workmanship of the company's persistent high standards.

Edward D. Etnyre's first product was an automatic hog waterer for his own farm. Since his invention worked quite well, neighbors asked him if he would make a waterer for them. Etnyre eventually started a new business on his farm, manufacturing hog waterers. He would invent things from the hog waterer to the water-sprinkler wagons.

Through steady product improvements, the thresher tank, and water sprinkler wagon, business flourished. E. D. Etnyre & Company was formally established in 1898. Because of increased business, they had to move the manufacturing business from Etnyre's farm to a former battery factory on the banks of the Rock River. The company's sales were handled by a Chicago supply house.

George M. Etnyre and Robert D. Etnyre joined their father in the company when the horse-drawn sprinkler was adapted for spraying oil. With the expanding product line, they established their own sales force and dealer organization. In 1906, a north and south wing of the factory was added to increase

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production. Rising to the challenges and opportunities of the times, the company also tried the motor car business. About a dozen touring cars were built, but the company soon stopped manufacturing them.

During World War I the company manufactured a large number of horse-drawn and truck-mounted sprinkling wagons and road oilers for the army. Right after the war, three other sons, Horace H., Lee Edward, and Edward A., joined the company. The railroad brought other businesses to Oregon, but E. D. Etnyre company outlasted those companies that manufactured furniture, chairs, and cultivators.

The Etnyre Company was primarily occupied manufacturing bituminous distributors for the army, navy, and air force during World War II. With these contributions, in 1944, the company earned for itself and its employees the Army and Navy "E" award. After the war there was a demand for better roads, which fueled an increase in sales of road-building products. Etnyre expanded its plant to keep up with production and improvements. At this time, Etnyre was considered progressive for appointing a woman, Harriet Etnyre Driver, E. D. Etnyre's only daughter, as a member of the board.

In the 1950s the manufacture of transport tanks led to the building of a new plant across the river on the Daysville Blacktop. A few years later the factory was further expanded to build the hydrostatic-distributor and the self-propelled chipspreader.

The computer age was the next big step for the company. To keep up with the challenges of other businesses, the company had to teach each operator how to run a computer. Recently, one of the last engineers, educated in the "college of hard knocks," retired from the company. The company has replaced those employees with college-educated engineers.

As time went on, the prices of products rose dramatically, not because of rising material prices or the labor cost, but because of a whole new area of changes. The Etnyre family has regretted that its members could no longer keep their attention solely on production. They had to spend time, energy, and money in protecting the company from lawsuits.

Etnyre continued to grow. Now in the 1990s, the company employs about three hundred workers. Etnyre produces asphalt distributors, chipspreaders, flusters, pressure sprinklers, maintenance distributors, transports, bituminous pumping units, and trailers. The company is headquartered at the Daysville address. After donating the other business property to Ogle County, the Oregon School District recognized the Etnyres' contributions by naming a school after them.—[From E. D. Etnyre and Company, Etnyre Road-Proven Equipment Offers the Best in Productivity; E. D. Etnyre and Company, The Etnyre Road... an unusual involvement of people in products; student historian's interview with Roger Etnyre, Sept. 19, 1996; Ogle County American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, Bicentennial History of Ogle County.]

As road-construction methods improved, the Etnyre Company expanded its plant to create road equipment like that shown here.

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