User:HelenLDCurtis/sandbox

Founded in 1892 in Cleveland by Frank Chittenden Osborn, RPI graduate in 1880, The Osborn Company, Civil Engineers, took advantage of the beginning of Cleveland's second railroad boom. Served by several railroad lines carrying passengers, mail and freight, Cleveland also had recently become the world's largest oil refining center (Standard Oil of Ohio, developed by John D. Rockefeller). The demand for railroad bridges without blocking boat traffic on the Cuyahoga River offered new opportunities: lift and swing bridges, girder-and truss bridges, bridges with masonry and concrete piers, arched spans  -- Osborn designs were erected throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Cuba. When the Titanic sank in 1912 it was believed that the rivet system might have been at fault, and Osborn's rivet system (developed for bridges) was subsequently adopted for ships. A steamship named for him plied the Great Lakes for many years.

In addition to the bridges, Osborn built buildings, tested materials, established standards for engineering designs, invented a left-handed drafting table (for his son Kenneth Osborn, when he joined the company in 1916).

To baseball fans, Osborn's preeminence in stadium design may be the best known accomplishment. Between 1909 and 1970, Osborn Engineering designed and monitored the construction of more stadiums and ballparks than any other company in the country. Kenneth Osborn (son of the founder) "solidified the company's reputation as the nation's foremost designer of major-league, municipal, and collegiate stadiums and ballparks." Stadiums designed by Osborn include: League Park, Cleveland (1909); Polo Grounds, New York (1911); Griffith Stadium, Washington (1911); Tiger Stadium, Detroit (1912); and Fenway Park (mirror image of Cleveland's League Park), Boston (1912); Braves Field, Boston (1915); Sportsman's Park, St. Louis (1922); Yankee Stadium (the first ever to have 3 decks), New York (1923); Philadelphia Stadium (1924). Noted college stadiums include Ohio State's "horseshoe," those at the University of Michigan and Notre Dame.

The company has continued to expand both interest and geographically while maintaining the attention to standards and detail established by its founder.

1. A Century of Progress, A History of the Osborn Engineering Company, 1892-1992, copyright 1992, The Osborn Engineering Company, Cleveland, Ohio, p. 16.

2. Ibid, pp 17-88.