James Oliver revolutionized farming in 1855 with his innovative chilled plow design. But it wasn’t until decades later that his family’s legacy expanded beyond plows. In the 1920s, the Oliver Chilled Plow Works merged with Hart-Parr Tractor Works, Nichols and Shepard Company, and the American Seeding Company—forming what became the Oliver-Hart-Parr tractor line.
The tractors that followed proudly carried the combined Oliver-Hart-Parr name, symbolizing a new era of mechanical advancement for American agriculture. As Mark Oppold notes, the “Oliver-Hart-Parr name proudly displayed the lineage of mechanical advancement,” embodying the innovative spirit that drove early farm mechanization.
By the late 1930s, the Hart-Parr name was dropped from the branding, but its influence endured. The Oliver tractor line continued production until 1976, when the last unit rolled off the assembly line—marking the end of a legendary chapter in agricultural history.
? That’s today’s Ag History Minute.
— Mark Oppold reporting