Seventeen years before the American Civil War erupted, the J.S. Woodhouse Company was started by Joseph Stuyvesant Woodhouse. Mr. Woodhouse was an industrious and capable man from a prominent New York family.
Mr. Woodhouse opened a retail store to sell hand tools and horse-drawn farm equipment such as plows, harrows, planting equipment and corn shellers. The company distributed one of the very first horse-drawn manure spreaders which was manufactured in western New York (Weedsport, we believe). They also sold grape presses, butter molds, seed potato knives, and a variety of other agricultural related products to the farmers in Lower Manhattan County, New York City. Today, this area would encompass the area of Broadway and Wall Street, as well as the financial district of lower Manhattan.
Mr. Woodhouse's hard work and effort yielded a prosperous business and the respect of his peers. He added traveling salesmen, and had several locations throughout New York City on Pearl Street, Water Street, Front Street, and Broadway and Bricker Streets at the edge of the garment district. At that time, the city ended at 14th Street and the rural community began.
As New York City changed and grew, Woodhouse sold his equipment through the wholesale market on Long Island, and in New Jersey and New York. Joseph Stuvesant Woodhouse died in 1912, leaving the business to his two sons. Unfortunately, both sons died shortly thereafter and the business passed to two of Woodhouse's granddaughters. While the granddaughters had limited interest in the business, the company continued to operate through the 1920's and 30's under the guidance of a Mr. W.C. Cole.
By 1941, the J.S. Woodhouse Company was doing poorly. Mr. Cole was 76 years old and his financial man, Howard Lane, was 74. The granddaughters, who were living in California, decided to sell the business. C.J. Reilly saw the Woodhouse Company as a great opportunity in the wholesale "implement" business and opted to purchase the Woodhouse Company in 1941.
After the end of World War II, the company prospered and expanded throughout the Northeast United States. Ford Motor Company began selling direct to dealers, and J.S. Woodhouse Company elected to remain a wholesale distributor. By 1948, Woodhouse was distributing product lines such as Cobey, Little Giant, Electric Wheel, Smalley, Super Six, Turner Balers, True Temper Hand Tools, Harvey Manufacturing, Belt Elevators, Judson Bros., Buller Saw, Planet Jr., Garber Seeders, American Crop Drying Equipment Co., Galloway Manure Spreaders, and others.
In the early 1950's, Howard Rotavator and Snowco Elevators were added to the product mix. The company progressed through the 1950's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 2000's and 2010's responding to the agricultural industry with changing lines of equipment. Throughout these decades, the Reilly family continued to own and operate the J.S. Woodhouse Company.
In 2021, the J.S. Woodhouse Company was purchased by Hayward Distributing, a sister distributor located in the Columbus Ohio, as a division of Hayward Distributing. Hayward Distributing brought 75 years of wholesale distribution knowledge to J.S. Woodhouse and was able to modernize the operations.
In 2023, through acquisition, Hayward Distributing added two new warehouse locations and several new lines of equipment to the J.S. Woodhouse division. The additions fully establish J.S. Woodhouse in the Mid-Atlantic region, with warehouse locations in Ephrata, PA and Raphine, VA.
Since 1843, J.S. Woodhouse has distributed equipment through agricultural tractor and equipment dealers, as well as through lawn & garden tractor dealers. Although we sell exclusively through these dealers, we welcome inquiries from retail consumers and are happy to provide product information and a referral to the nearest local dealer for the product(s) of interest.
We offer a wide range of implements such as Agricultural, Forestry, Light Industrial, Skid Steer Attachments, Turf, and Lawn and Garden equipment.
Office and warehouse locations in Lewisberry, PA, Syracuse, NY, Fairfield, ME, Ephrata, PA, Raphine, VA and our main headquarters in West Springfield, MA, enable us to serve equipment dealers in 13 states throughout the Northeast including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and West Virginia.
To the best of our knowledge, Woodhouse is the oldest agricultural equipment distributor in North America.
