History of the Herschede Clock Company

Ohio has been the home of many fine companies making everything from pottery and bricks to petroleum products baskets. Firestone, Roseville, Standard Oil and Longaberger have been household names for many years. A lesser known company that had its roots in Cincinnati manufactured some of the finest floor clocks in the world. Floor clocks are most commonly referred to as grandfather clocks and the Herschede Clock Company produced thousands of these popular clocks.

Founded in 1885 by Frank Herschede, the company was originally located on Vine Street in Cincinnati. After spending four years as an apprentice in watch and clock repair, Frank opened his own business. The ambitious twenty-year old expanded his work to include selling jewelry and making clocks. By the time he was thirty years old, Frank Herschede was importing clock movements from Europe and using a local cabinet shop to make long clock cases. He eventually bought out the cabinet works which had been located on Front Street in Cincinnati.

The company saw steady growth through the early nineteen hundreds, developing a reputation for producing high quality grandfather clocks. A unique feature of Herschede grandfather clocks was the use of Cantebury chimes in addition to the more traditional clocks chimes such as Westminster. Today, Herschede grandfather clocks are highly sought by collectors and add to the rich tradition of fine products from Ohio.