McWhorter Mfg. Co., Riverton, NJ

When this unusual c.1907 farm implement catalog for McWhorter Mfg. Co. in Riverton, NJ with a purple cover and green text surfaced on eBay I bid for it even though I had no clue where such a factory would have stood.

eBay item, McWhorter ad 1911

With having a saved search on eBay for “Riverton, NJ” for some time, I had already seen small ads for sale from periodicals like this one:

FS McWhorter obit, The New Era, Sept 5, 1919

 

HSR Board member Roger Prichard joined the search and found this obit in The New Era for F.S. McWhorter, the president of the company, who once lived at Eighth and Lippincott and…

McWhorter Edger, The New Era, April 15, 1921

 

…another ad for a grass edger made by Allen McWhorter (presumably a son or other relative) indicating a 420 Lippincott address.

However, both of those residential neighborhood  addresses seemed like an unlikely place for a manufacturer of farm and garden implements.

detail, Sheet 14, Riverton, NJ Sanborn Insurance Map, 1919

While I was stumped on the location, Roger kept digging and found the plant in East Riverton, as shown on Sheet 14 of this 1919 Sanborn Insurance Map for Riverton.

 

View the entire 28-page catalog here: McWhorter Special Farm and Garden Implements Catalog c.1907

If any century-old McWhorter manufactured items are still around, please send us a photo. -JMc

 

 

Published by

John McCormick

Teacher at Riverton School 1974-2019, author, amateur historian, Historical Society of Riverton Board Member 2007-2023, newsletter editor 2007-2023, website editor 2011-2023

10 thoughts on “McWhorter Mfg. Co., Riverton, NJ”

  1. I recently tracked the original owner of our home at 206 Lippincott to McWhorter Manufacturing. William A. Hendrickson had our home built in 1915 and was also one of the four founders of McWhorter. If anyone has any other details of William’s family or our home we would greatly appreciate. We are lucky to have 20+ pages of original blueprints.

    1. Hi, Dan
      You already found what we had to display about McWhorter Mfg. Those original blueprints must be a treasure. We would like to display some of them on our website if you are able to scan or photograph them. Let me know if you need help. Maybe another visitor will see your comment and offer more information you seek.
      Regards,
      John McCormick

      1. Hi John,

        Thank you! I would be happy to share the blueprints and would welcome any help in learning more about our home and the previous residents. The prints even include the detailed wood design of the entryway and stairwell. Do you have any recommendations on who may be best to scan them, given the delicate nature of the 100 year old paper?

        Warmest regards,

        Dan Foley

        1. Hi, Dan,
          Your offer to allow the scanning of your blueprints got us scrambling. I have scanned larger documents on my Epson in sections and “stitched” them together, but I wouldn’t try it if the paper is delicate. I have also laid larger newspapers flat, covered them w/ a sheet of clear glass, and photographed them. My colleague Roger Prichard has contacted a local architect who might have a suggestion. So we’ll get back to you about your generous offer.

          Always absolutely loved your house. It’s folks like you who are the reason we do this. You should join us!! Easy and cheap and defrays some of the expenses of this all-volunteer effort. Click here to join: https://rivertonhistory.com/contact/

          Though you’ve already seen what we have for McWhorter, remember that we do have quite an online collection of local newspapers. The search feature is not great but I do see that searching with “Hendrickson” turns up a number of entries, although some may not be relevant. Click the “Search this site” on the left on most pages at https://rivertonhistory.com/

          There was no mention of 206 Lipp in the little snapshot summaries of 100-year-old structures listed in the 1999 Historical District Application, but it did merit special mention on page 20.

          “Popular concurrently with the Colonial Revival was the Tudor Revival style, examples of which are well represented in the district in a variety of renditions and sizes. The most imposing of these is the house at 206 Lippincott Avenue, a circa 1935 Flemish bond brick “manor house” with a grand slate-covered roof, two steeply pitched front gables and a multishaft chimney with terra cotta chimney pots.”

          Given the McWhorter connection and unique Tudor design, a case might be made for it to qualify for a house plaque under one of the other reason listed:
          1.Buildings and structures 100 years and older;
          2.Buildings and structures whose architectural prominence is regarded as significant to Riverton;
          3.Buildings and structures with local historical importance to Riverton.

          All to be revisited. Check out our latest Jan. newsletter.

          Regards,
          John McCormick

  2. Hi all,
    I live in Trappe, PA. I came across a letter written by FS McWhorter to, what I can assume, is a relative of mine. The letter is dated July 27th 1912 and is in excellent condition. The letter is written on McWhorter Mfg Company letterhead. I can’t seem to figure out the relative of mine that he references in the letter. He visited a family in Spring City, PA. If anybody is interested in the letter or knows any information please let me know. The letter was sent from Riverton NJ for 2 cents!

    1. Hi, Cindi
      Thank you for visiting. What you found in our McWhorter story is the extent of our information at this time. That letter is an artifact, or material evidence, that references a long-gone Riverton enterprise, so it and the stamped envelope are of interest to us if you ever care to part with them. Absent that event, we would very much appreciate hi-resolution scans or photos of same for our records.
      Regards,
      John McCormick

      1. I will definitely get you high res scans. With it being over a 100 years old I haven’t touched it much but I will get them to you.

        1. Thank you for reaching out AND your generous offer to make good scans of this, Cindi! It’s very likely that this is the only surviving letter from the interesting little firm.
          Roger Prichard

  3. Hello, I am a local historian from Washington Township, Gloucester County and I specialize in the history of a farming manufacturer called the Bateman Mfg Co. In September 1919, the McWhorter Mfg Co, along with 6 other manufacturers merged with the Bateman Company to form Bateman & Companies Inc. I have some dealers books from the company and they contain catalogs for McWhorter made potato planters and fertilizers, along with their accompanying parts list. I’ve scanned and uploaded them onto a site called Archive.org where they can be viewed but I would be glad to share the unedited scans with the Riverton historical society.

    I also own a printing block for a McWhorter garden seeder that would of been used in their catalogs and a friend of mine owns the original printing block for the 1920 McWhorter potato planter catalog cover. They came from the Bateman company printing block collection that came out of Fred H Bateman’s house in Grenloch NJ. I’d be glad to send you photos of these items as well.

    1. That’s very generous of you, Jason, thanks! If you can send a download link to me at rprichard@rivertonhistory.com that’d be great. I’ll also share them with one of our members who lives in the home built by a McWhorter executive named Henderson who built a fine house here on Lippincott Avenue. Nice of you to think of us!

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