Cole Manufacturing Company

Cole Manufacturing Company was founded by brothers E.M. and E.A. Cole in Charlotte in January 1900 to manufacture seed planters invented and patented by E.M. Cole. Brightly painted farm implements bearing the Cole Manufacturing Company label were a common sight on North Carolina farms during the first half of the 20th century.

By the mid-1920s, the company had become the world’s largest factory dedicated solely to producing seed planters and fertilizer distributors. Operating its own foundry, Cole Manufacturing transitioned from mule-drawn implements to multirow tractor-drawn equipment. By 1961, the company had sold more than 2 million seed planters, fertilizer distributors, and grain drills in both domestic and export markets.

In the mid-1970s, Cole introduced a line of hand-pushed equipment to tap into the growing interest in home gardening. Leadership of the company remained within the family: Jean Cole Hatcher succeeded her father, E.A. Cole, as president, followed by her son, John Cole Hatcher. The company ceased operations in the early 1980s.