Better than the Reaper

Fifty miles west of Chicago, amid the fertile farmland of northern Illinois, the town of Plano has been home to inventors and industry since its settlement in the 1830s. Farmers C.W. and W.W. Marsh brought their harvester to Plano where John Hollister helped perfect the invention, leading to the establishment in Plano of the first harvester manufacturing company. From two farmers' despair, a businessman's second fortune, and ultimately to a new chapter for Plano, the "Birthplace of the Harvester" produced innovative harvesting machinery for six decades.