History of the American Crane Corporation

The history of the American Crane corporation dates back to September 4, 1882 and the Franklin Manufacturing Company in Saint Paul, MN. . The company name and owners may have changed over time but its position as a top manufacturer of hoisting and lifting equipment has not.

American Crane Corporation has been a part of TEREX Corporation since 1998. TEREX Corporation is focused on producing quality capital equipment that delivers the productivity, return on investment and cost-effectiveness that today's value-conscious customers demand.

On September 4, 1882, The Franklin Manufacturing Company opened its doors in Saint Paul, MN. Owned and operated by Frank J. Johnson & Oliver T. Crosby the company was opened as a repair service for the heavy equipment being shipped into Minnesota to harvest the state's abundant timber and iron ore resources. Within a year Johnson & Crosby recognized that there was a better opportunity in manufacturing and selling their own equipment. So on June 1, 1883, the company's name was changed to The American Manufacturing Company. The new company manufactured a line of hand and horse-power hoisting equipment.

The company's first patent was awarded on July 28, 1885 for the friction drums used in the company's hoists. In 1886, Oliver T. Crosby invented the Crosby Clip, an ingenious device used for fastening wire rope, which is still in use today.

In 1887 the company relocated to 63 South Robert Street across the river from St. Paul — they remained in that location for almost 100 years. In 1892 the company made another name change — this time to American Hoist & Derrick Company.

1895 was a momentous year for the company with many new innovations being introduced. The first traveling derricks were introduced, the largest locomotive crane was built (as late as 1914 it was still heralded as the largest crane in the world), and the American Sugar Cane Crane was created and sold.

The versatile American Ditcher was born in 1904. Not only was this machine used for digging ditches along railbeds that had been dug by laborers with shovels in the past it was adaptable for up to 20 different uses.

American Hoist & Derrick became an international company in 1905 with the construction of Yokohama Warehouse for Mitsui & Company of Yokohama, Japan using American guy derricks. American products were also used to make harbor improvements in Manila and an American crane derrick was used in the construction of the National Pantheon in Mexico City.

In 1923 American Hoist made another technological breakthrough — three locomotive cranes were mounted on continuous chain treads — creating its first crawler cranes. The demand for cranes and shovels that could go almost anywhere under their own power lead to the development of the American Gopher Shovel Crane which came with a gasoline or diesel engine.

American Hoist survived the years of the Great Depression through working on many of the U.S. Government's massive construction projects.

In 1938 the company captured another lifting record when it shipped a guy derrick that was rated at 250 tons. In 1950 the company introduced the New Model 375 Crawler Crane which was the forerunner of today's modern crawler cranes.

From 1955 to 1981 American Hoist & Derrick Company acquired numerous smaller companies. The result of these acquisitions was a broadly diversified manufacturer providing products and services to a wide variety of markets.

In 1965 the company introduced the Guy Derrick attachment for its line of standard crawler cranes, a device that multiplied the lifting capacity of the crane many times. In 1968 the Sky Horse was introduced providing even greater flexibility to the heavy-lift contractor. In 1981 the Super Sky Horse was introduced creating even greater lifting capacity.

In 1976, the ship-mounted M-3000 became the largest crane in the world, capable of lifting 3,000 tons on a 280-foot boom and weighing over 6,300 tons.

In 1985 the 63 South Robert Street location was closed and the manufacturing equipment and inventory were relocated to a new facility in Wilmington, N.C. In late summer 1985 the first “American” crane, totally built in Wilmington was shipped to a customer.

In the mid-80's Amhoist scaled down operations and under new management the company name was changed to Amdura. In August 1987 a group of private investors purchased the Crawler, Truck & Locomotive product lines of Amdura. The Company name was changed to “American Crane Corporation”.

In August of 1998, American Crane Corporation was sold again — Terex Corporation of Westport, Connecticut purchased the lattice boom crawler and truck crane product lines of American.

In 1999 a new line of lattice boom crawler cranes was introduced. These new cranes had hydraulic powered hoist drums, hydraulic powered swing systems and hydraulic propel along with a new up to date operators cabin with the operators comfort in mind.

From American Manufacturing Company's first catalog:

The standards of “Quality and Excellence” that started in 1885 when American received its first patent are still the same standards in the minds of the employees of today.