Deeds Barn and the Self Starter

Deeds Barn is more than a historic workshop: it is the rough-hewn birthplace of inventions that changed the way Americans drove, built, and fought. In this barn and its later replica exhibit, Edward A. Deeds and Charles F. Kettering—two men of modest beginnings whose partnership was forged at the National Cash Register Company—turned practical engineering into a force that helped define Dayton's industrial legacy. What began as Deeds's search for a talented young engineer and his dream of electrifying cash registers soon expanded into a bold collaboration on the future of the gasoline automobile. Working nights and weekends with a small "Barn Gang," they solved the dangerous hand-crank problem, developed a reliable electric ignition and self-starter, and endured setbacks, crashes, broken bones, and doubtful battery makers. Their breakthrough won Cadillac's attention, led to a 5,000-unit contract, and forced them to build Delco from the ground up. From there, their ambitions grew still larger, helping bring the Cadillac V-8 to life and, in wartime, the Liberty aircraft engine. This is the story of ingenuity, friendship, and invention becoming industry. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.