I had a friend of mine from Romeo, MI called me last night to ask what I knew about the history of the Romeo foundry. He is involved in setting up a little museum in Romeo and they want to have an exhibit about the Romeo Foundry. All I could tell him was that I knew they made the cylinder castings for my Model N as they have the cast-in ROMEO name next to the valves, on the underside of the water jacket. He says the Romeo Historical Society has an early photo of the foundry with a guy holding what looks exactly like a Model T, (or maybe NRS?), exhaust manifold. Cool! One of the things they would like to confirm is whether or not Romeo Foundry may have cast the first Model T block/s.
So, how about it history gurus... Hap?... Trent?... Anyone?
Jerry, Was the Romeo Foundry Co. actually in Romeo, Michigan or was it located in Port Huron? I know Romeo Foundry did early Chevrolet stuff, but I thought Ford used Russel Wheel and Foundry in Detroit for some of his early iron castings.
Well, that's a good question Tom. The folks from Romeo seem to think it was in their town. Maybe Port Huron has a Romeo display in their museum too ;)
What little I know is that the Romeo Foundry Co. was located in Port Huron, They did a lot of castings for many companies and then later became the Holmes Foundry. But apparently they were a Port Huron business. Whether they also had a facility or foundry in Romeo is not known by me.
However, if it were 1905, I would rather send a casting down the river to Detroit versus negotiating my way up to Romeo. Romeo Plank was built for a reason and I'm guessing there was a lot of mud between them and Detroit.