In search of the birthplace of the Martin Wasp

What’s amazing about automotive history is that in the first half of the 20th Century, when gazillions of backyard tinkerers thought they could be the next Henry Ford, there were automotive factories scattered all over the country, in just about every town that had an enterprising blacksmith. Thus, automotive history can be a local pursuit, not one confined to Detroit and its surrounding suburbs.

Taking that to heart, we went in search of the one automotive factory in Bennington, Vermont, the world headquarters of both Hemmings Motor News and Karl H. Martin’s Wasp, a car built here from 1919 to 1924. (Not to be confused, btw, with the vehicles built by Captain James Vernon Martin.) In SIA #74, Keith Marvin wrote a great account of driving a Wasp – the same one that currently resides in the Bennington Museum – but nothing about the factory. Same with the normal reference books. But we did find a brief description of the factory in Automobile Quarterly Vol. 17, No. 2. That more comprehensive article about the Wasp, also penned by Marvin, tells us that Martin, who was not a native of Bennington nor of Vermont, came here both because his maternal grandparents had lived here and because he expected to find cheap, skilled labor here.

Marvin also wrote that in August 1919, Martin “leased a vacant wing of the Olin Scott Foundry & Machine Corporation on Pleasant Street near the site of the Bennington High School.” We did find a biography of Colonel Olin Scott that mentioned the Pleasant Street location (built in 1865), but gave no address. No matter, though: We know of only one structure on Pleasant Street still standing that was ever capable of housing a foundry, machine shop or car factory, 334 Pleasant, pictured below.

Not only is that location situated behind the former high school, which now sits empty, but it’s also within sight of the Hamlin House (655 Main St. – go to Street View and turn around), where Karl Martin lived at the time.

As for that location today, it’s home to MacLaren Cycle Works, Green Mountain Tae Kwon Do, and a bottle redemption center.

So what cars were built in your town?

UPDATE (21.December 2009): David Greenlees recalls hearing once from Bennington car collector Joe Josephs that Martin put together some cars in another location, not far away, off of Hamlin and Lafayette streets, just behind the cemetery. I had forgotten about Hamlin Street back there up the hill, and I’ve seen the building in the past (it’s the brown blob in the Google Map just off the loop in the cemetery) and wondered about it. I shall investigate.

UPDATE UPDATE (21.December 2009): Joe Josephs is long in his grave, but I did just get off the phone with Bruce Carmen, who owned that other building off Hamlin Street. In fact, Bruce bought the building off Joe, who bought it off Martin himself, apparently, and both Bruce and Joe used the building to store their collector cars. Bruce confirmed that the building (which is actually on Mortimer Street, which runs parallel to Lafayette) was where Martin built every one of the Wasps, with no production at all taking place over at the Pleasant Street location. Bruce also said that Martin built just six Wasps; Marvin wrote that Martin built as many as 17 Wasps. I shall investigate further.