The Holt Manufacturing Company Heads to Walla Walla
A major expansion of the Stockton-based farm equipment giant promises a new manufacturing plant for Walla Walla.
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The Holt Manufacturing company of Stockton has decided to come to Walla Walla with a portion of its large manufacturing establishment, and as soon as the necessary machinery can be secured from the East, the work of erecting a plant will be commenced. This information was given out by Ben C. Holt, local manager of the company in this city. 'It is the intention to manufacture all the wood work for our combined threshers in Walla Walla and it is expected that we will have the plant in working order by spring,' said Mr. Holt. 'We will not do any iron work here, but that will be shipped in from our big factory at Stockton. The big increase in our business last year fully demonstrated that it would be a paying proposition to put up our combines near the field of operations and the officers of the company, after investigating the different places in Washington, decided that Walla Walla was the best place to do the work.'
“The big increase in our business last year fully demonstrated that it would be a paying proposition to put up our combines near the field of operations.”
Holt Manufacturing eventually merged to become part of the Caterpillar tractor empire. This 1904 expansion effort illustrates how Walla Walla served as a critical hub for the region's agricultural economy, a role it continues to play today in the Palouse farming corridor.
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