The Heritage Center: the Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Company

Credit: HANDOUT

Credit: HANDOUT

“Tires or trucks, the Kelly-Springfield name has been associated with quality products since the 1800s,” ran the advertisements for the Kelly-Springfield Motor Truck Company, organized by Edwin S. Kelly, the son of former mayor, philanthropist, and industrialist O.S. Kelly, in 1910.

E.S. Kelly retired in 1912, but the company continued to grow and introduce new models of trucks and eventually buses until they closed up operations in 1927.