The Massillon Museum’s 1916 Russell traction steam engine has returned to MassMu’s garden area on City Hall Street Southeast and can be seen at any time.

Doug Scheetz and BeeLine Transfer facilitated return of the bold black, red, and yellow machine from its off-season storage site, where it is protected from winter weather. The model  logo—“The Boss”—and the Russell and Company logo are both hand-painted on the engine. Earl Scheetz had been instrumental in helping care for and move the engine for decades before his passing.

The largest object in the Museum’s permanent collection, the engine weighs three tons and can produce 12 horsepower. Russell and Company manufactured more than 17,000 steam engines as well as 22,000 threshing machines, 16,000 boilers, and 5,000 sawmills.  The large brick factory building still stands about a mile from the Museum on South Erie Street. 

Russell and Company, incorporated in 1842, reached its heyday as Massillon’s largest employer during the 1890s and early 1900s. During those decades, company agents introduced Massillon to the world by selling equipment in places as distant as Germany, Russia, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. The final auction was held in 1927.  

The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172) in downtown Massillon. A visit to the Massillon Museum is always free and everyone is welcome. Free parking is available on adjacent streets and in nearby city lots. For more information, call the Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit massillonmuseum.org.