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Sunday, April 9, 2017

The "Heating The Country In Columbia, Pennsylvania" Story

Site of what was once the Keeley Stove Company.
It was an ordinary day.  Diving through the riverfront town of Columbia, Pennsyl- vania looking for the remains of the Keeley Stove Company.  Streets run parallel to the Susquehanna River and carry numbers beginning with 1st Street running along the river.  Keeley Stove filled the space between 2nd and 3rd streets and occupied the block between Maple and Linden Streets.  
A postcard show the Keeley Stove Co. in Columbia, PA.
All that remains of the once great stove company is a series of garage units.  Keeley Stove began in 1843 as the Yeager Hunter Stove Company in Spring City, Montogomery County.  After several owners, it was destroyed by fire in 1856, but was rebuilt by the people of the town in 1860 on the same site and was known as the Spring City Stove Company.  Eventually, in the spring of 1881 Oliver Keeley bought the business.  Unfortunately, the business was once again destroyed by fire a few months later.  
A catalog page showing the Pilot Stove.
So, Mr. Keeley continued operations across the river in Royersford.  But, in January of 1882, he as killed in a train accident at the age of 36.  His estate eventually sold the company to a group of investors in Columbia, PA.  Keeley Stove Company continued to operate in Spring City until a new factory could be built in Columbia.  By February of 1883 Columbia had a new factory along the banks of the Susquehanna and five years later were producing 20,000 stoves a year.  They manufactured Columbian stoves, ranges, furnaces and hot water specialties.  The company had its ups and downs in ensuing years as it adopted newer technologies and dealt with unionization of its work force, but finally closed in 1948.  
A receipt for a stove from The Keeley Stove Company.
And today, as I searched the landscape for the remains of the factory, I came up empty except for the rows and rows of garages.  One of the mainstays of the Keeley Stove Company was the Pilot Stove.  It was a cast iron pot belly stove that was offered for sale for $26.00 and for 75 cents extra you could have the bootrails nickel coated.  
A restored cast iron pot belly Pilot Stove.
The stove had an extra door that was used just for poking the charred wood.  Potbelly stoves were cast-iron wood-burning stoves that were round with a bulge in the middle that resembled a fat man's pot belly.  They were designed to heat large spaces and were often found in train stations and one-room schoolhouses.  The flat top of the stove allowed for cooking of food or the heating of water.  Columbia is about twenty minutes from my home in Lancaster and its hard to believe it took me 72 years to realize that one of the biggest manufacturing plants in the USA used to be nearby.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

11 comments:

  1. I just bought a Columbian Palace stove at auction

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  2. Great find. Hope it is in good condition.

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  3. Thank you for the info, I had just come across a Columbia Stove for sell, and while researching it found you site. I have been to Columbia Boro many time, but never knew about the Keeley comp.

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  4. I have three thimbles with the inscription "THE KELLEY STOVE CO. COLUMBIA PA" I would assume these were "give away" advertisements.

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  5. I restored a B88 romantic newly wed stove,wish i could have given you a pic ,it came out outstanding

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    1. Hi, I just bought the romantic b88 in a fair shape, do you know how old it can be?

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  6. We have a Keeley Stove that says "Home Comfort" on the front. On the top it has the number 182. We would love more information on the stove but can't find anything! I'd love to restore it as it was painted and is now a kitchen island.

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  7. We just purchased a small cookstove from Keeley stove company number 72 and it says PET on the front door. Does anyone know anything about this model? I haven't been able to find anything about it.

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  8. I just bought a beautiful kneeled trix no 11. I can't find anything about it. Is there any info out there?

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  9. Thanks for this history lesson. I just got a little Keeley Tiger 3 potbelly that I'm restoring.

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  10. My great grand father Samuel Klein was on the board of Keeley Stove in 1910. I have a picture of the directors from the 1910 catalog( just a cut out page with photos of 8 directors and the chairman, H.F. Bruner. My grandfather had a store in Philadelphia and was a dealer of Columbia Stoves. I have a photo of the shop with the name COLUMBIA STOVES on the window and my grandfather and employees.
    This store grew into the Klein Stove Co in Philly and later bought the foundry that furnished custom castings for the “SAM STOVE”. The foundry was in financial straits and fell behind in production. So our family, with the benefit of a wealthy daughter in law bought the foundry and started the Caloric Corp in Topton PA. Caloric was in family hands until they sold it to Raytheon in 1968 after Raytheon bought Amana.
    I am the oldest of the third generation born in America. I was born in Philadelphia in 1949 and raised in Allentown PA.
    I wish I could include copies of the photos.
    -BillytheKid Klein
    New Tripoli PA

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