Dodge Brothers

The Dodge brothers founders of the Dodge Motor company were born and raised in Niles. John (born in 1864) and Horace (born in 1868) came from humble beginnings. They grew up poor working with their father in his machine shop. In 1886 the brothers moved to Detroit and worked in area machine shops. The Brothers began there careers as manufactures not in automobiles but in bicycles. In 1896 they partnered with Fredrick Evans and began making Evans and Dodge Bicycles.

The Dodge’s sold their interest in the bicycle company and used the money to start their own machine shop in 1901. They began producing parts for Detroit’s growing automotive industry and quickly built a reputation for turning out the best products. They manufactured motors and transmissions for Ford and Oldsmobile. When Henry Ford couldn't pay the Dodge brothers they received 10% of the companies stock. John even became Vice President of Ford. However by 1913 the duo decided to take the profits from their Ford stock and start The Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company. In 1914 the first car rolled off the assembly line and 3 years later the company was the fourth largest automobile company in the US.