Farm Machinery Production

Iowa was the ideal place to manufacture farm equipment. Waterloo became the home of John Deere Company.

Iowa’s location, in the middle of a vast agricultural region, made it an ideal place for the manufacture of farm machinery. The Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company, founded in 1892, produced a popular tractor called the “Waterloo Boy.” Years later the John Deere Company of Moline, Illinois, bought out this company. Although still headquartered in Illinois, the John Deere Company today is one of the largest employers of labors in the state with plants throughout Iowa.