In 1884, Charles N. North and George W. Drumheller established a small electrical repair shop for the repair and manufacture of telephone equipment in Cleveland Ohio. The firm’s name was Drumheller and North.

Mr. North and Mr. Drumheller undertook the venture after several years of experience in telephone operating company work. Bringing, as they did, a broad practical experience to the problems of telephone equipment manufacture, the firm’s products immediately achieved a place in the field.

In 1889 Charles North succeeded to the company and the firm’s name was changed to the North Electric Works. In 1899, in association with Mr. George C. Steele, he incorporated the business as the North Electric Company. Under the management of Messrs. North and Steele the company forged rapidly to the front, and from the small repair shop on a side street it became one of the prominent manufacturing concerns of Cleveland, employing over 300 workers.

In 1912 they acquired the Telephone Improvement Company and in 1918 the North Electric Company was reorganised under the laws of Ohio, as the North Electric Manufacturing Co. The new company acquired, clear of debt, all of the property of the old North Company, including a going factory at Galion, Ohio, and a large group of important patent rights covering machine switching telephone systems.

Charles N. North, who for more than 30 years had been predominantly identified with the telephone manufacturing business of the USA, remained with the new company as president. Due to declining health, however, he retired from the presidency in 1921. His gradual withdrawal from active work during the last years of his was a distinct loss to the art of telephony and to his host of friends. Mr. North remained associated with the company until his death in 1926.

North Electric became a member of the Ericsson group in 1951 and was to become the oldest continuous manufacturer of telephone equipment in the USA. Ericsson had bought 60% of the shares in this company for US$1.68 million dollars and three years later invested a further US$0.4 million thus acquiring a two thirds majority. North had at that time approximately 100 employees in four factories, the most important in Galion near Cleveland. Their production was mainly telephone sets, dials and exchanges for the American telephone companies, and also had large orders from the US government for military telephone equipment. North developed electronic exchanges for the US airforce in conjunction with LME.

In 1960 a factory was bought to manufacture power supply equipment for computer and telephone exchanges. In 1966 the majority of shares were transferred to United Utilities ( a holding company for a group of telephone operation companies that had become the third largest in size in the USA after ATT and General Telephones). In 1967 United Utilities became the sole owner of the North Electric Co.

Any comments please email: Ken Bushell           Copyright 1998 by K. Bushell       Last update February 28 1999