Day of Adventure - Part 3

The potato digger was envisioned by Isaac W. Hoover of Avery, in Milan Township, when he submitted a model to the Federal Patent Bureau in 1885. His patent granted, he began manufacturing diggers in a shed on Strecker & Kelly Roads. The first ones were sold to waiting neighbor farmers, but they attracted the attention of farmers all over the country. They revolutionized the gathering of potatoes all over the country. They easily separated earth and weeds from the potatoes and could be used on hilly as well as level ground, allowing a man with a team of horses to dig as much as 500 bushels a day.
Soon a very profitable company formed and in 1916 the extensive plant covered 4 acres, producing 5000 machines per year, shipped to every civilized country in the world. In 1926, the company merged with John Deere Plow Company, and I.W. Hoover retired from the business. The operations moved from Milan Township the following year. The plant was located where CertainTeed Corporation is today, about two miles north of Milan.
Isaac Hoover continued to be creative and resourceful, refining his digger, producing planters, cutters, bag holders, weighing devices, and a potato garden capable of one hundred bushels an hour. His potato sorter was patented when he was 92 years old.

How ‘bout that!