Hitch your wagon to a star ...Businessmen revive Springfield Wagon Co.

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

A couple of local businessmen want to fix your wagon.

John Billings and Louis Allen are re-creating the Springfield Wagon Company, which was once one of the most well-known wagon companies in the country.

From about the 1870s until the 1920s, the Springfield Wagon Company produced some of the country's most widely-recognized horse-drawn wagons. With red wheels and a green "box" (the central, seat portion of the wagon), the Springfield wagons stood out, Allen said.

Billings, who owns Billings & Associates, a woodworking company that repairs and builds cabinets and other wood products, registered the new Springfield Wagon Company Dec. 31, 1997, he said. Billings and Allen have just completed the prototype Springfield wagon and plan to produce about 10 such wagons initially, with hopes of generating interest both locally and around the country, Billings said.

"We're hoping to wake up the local market first, but we know there is a demand for these wagons both here and throughout the western area of the country," Allen said.

The wagons will be two-horse wagons, but can be pulled by one horse. The average cost for a wagon should run between $3,500 and $4,000, Billings said.

Both Billings and Allen are horse enthusiasts, and since Billings & Associates is a woodworking business, the wagon business is complementary, Billings said. The wagons will be built in a shop adjacent to Billings & Associates, which is located at 510 N. Main.

Billings, who raises and shows Percheron horses, is an active wagon user, and wants to promote use of wagons among families who own horses.

"With a wagon, the whole family can go out for a ride at once. The cost of a wagon is pretty reasonable when you compare it to the cost of outfitting horses for the whole family," Billings said.

Though there are a few companies in the country that manufacture wagons, most are custom-built, Allen said. The Springfield Wagon Company's intention is to manufacture a standard product. The red and green colors will be retained as symbols of the original company. "When the Springfield Wagon Company would take over a smaller wagon company, they would add their coloring to those wagons so that people would recognize them as Springfield wagons," Allen said.

The company plans to have display models of the Springfield wagons at horse shows and auctions in the fall, and would like to take orders by then, Allen said.

The Springfield Wagon Company was responsible for a large portion of Springfield's economy around the turn of the century, Allen said. Many of the large homes on Walnut Street were owned by people in the lumber business, who sold their lumber to Springfield Wagon.

"The genesis of wagon companies was that they went where the railroad stops. Where there was no more rail, the wagons picked up the trail," Allen said.

Working for Springfield Wagon Company in those days was a prestigious and high-paying job, Allen added. "They were the best jobs around. Springfield Wagon was a very progressive company that took care of its workers," Allen said.

The pair plan to preserve a lot of the spirit of the original company, Allen added, and to spend a lot of time educating those in the area about using wagons for recreation.

"There is a huge interest in horses in this area, so it stands to reason that there should be a wagon company here," Allen said.

The wagons are assembled starting with the wheels and axles first.

"One of the distinctions of wagon assembly is that no conveyor belt is needed. Since the wheels are the first thing to be assembled, the product becomes its own conveyance," Allen said.

The wheels of the wagon are traditionally hickory, the undercarriage traditionally oak, and the box poplar, Billings said. Billings and Allen have availed themselves of local wheelwrights and iron workers to develop the wheels and iron work for the vehicles, but hope to be able to complete the wagons with their own staff eventually.

Allen said the company would like to locate descendants of those who worked for the original Springfield Wagon Company. The original company was focusing on a product that was used by necessity, while the new company's products will be used mostly recreationally, although there are some farm applications, Allen said.

"We are involved in educating the public about what we're doing, too. We're out to show people how much fun this can be," Allen said.

PHOTO CAPTION:

Louis Allen (left) and John Billings have created a prototype of the new Springfield wagon. The company will produce about 10 models for sale initially.

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