Zinc Collar Pad Company Building
The Zinc Collar Pad Company Building is an industrial building located at 304 S. Oak Street in Buchanan, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. History In 1870, Dexter Curtis invented a unique Zinc lined collar pad for horse harnesses, which prevented chafing of the horse's neck and shoulders. That year, Curtis formed a partnership with George H. Richards and Henry Gilman to manufacture and market the pads under the name of ""Curtis, Gilman and Richards." The first pad was introduced in April 1870, and was an immediate success. The location of the company's original manufacturing facility is not recorded, but by 1871 what was now the "Zinc Collar Pad Company" was located in a space in a foundry on Red Bud Trail. The business continued to grow, and it was reported that in 1871-73, the company consumed over 400,000 of zinc. However, in September 1874 the building they were located in burned down. The next month, the company responded by drawing up plans for this building, and in 1875 they constructed it in the heart of what was then Buchanan's booming industrial center. The company operated out of this building for many years;