The Second Floor of the Studebaker Corporation Headquarters Building in 1909

Photos of the second floor of the (Administration Building) Studebaker Corporation Headquarters Building at 635 South Main Street, South Bend, Indiana, USA in 1909. It originally housed a display of the company’s wagons, carriers and automobiles showroom, often called the repository, with evenly spaced spittoons for guest convenience. Most of the vehicles are now in the Studebaker National Museum.

Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 186 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.

Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name “Studebaker Automobile Company.” Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.

After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) and failure to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the ‘Studebaker Corporation’ name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in February 1968 to form Studebaker-Worthington.