These came from a man who said that his dad use to
work for Piedmont Wagon in Hickory, NC. They are
hand forged, as no two are exactly the same. They are 5” to 6” long and made
from 3/8’s stock.
I will combine shipping if you are buying multiples. Each
tie back is $7.00.
Please email with any questions.
The Piedmont Wagon Company was founded in 1878 outside of
Hickory by George G. Bonniwell, a mechanical engineer, architect, and builder,
and A. L. (Andy) Ramseur, operator of a gristmill, an iron forge, and a
sawmill. They formed a partnership and began small-scale construction of
wagons, becoming one of the area's first industrial enterprises. Two years
later the firm moved to the western part of Hickory for access to a railroad
and to obtain additional capital. By 1890 it had an investment of more than $100,000
in land, machinery, and raw materials, and demand for its wagons was so great
that the company inaugurated a night shift (probably Hickory's first).
Under the direction of G. Harvey Geitner, plant
superintendent from 1887 to 1918, Piedmont's primary market was extended
throughout the southern states from Virginia to Texas and eventually to Great
Britain. By World War I the company received a contract for all-metal carts for
the French army. It was said that Piedmont rivaled the work of leading wagon
companies in St. Louis, the center for the industry.
Following a series of ownership changes, Piedmont Wagon
Company became involved in a tax controversy and subsequent lawsuit stemming
from its failure to pay income taxes from 1917 to 1919. The firm was sold to
Henry Leonard in the 1940s, the era that production ground to a halt.