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Chronological List of District Heating
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Isaac D. Smead was an inventor and entrepreneur who lived in Toledo, Ohio. He was involved in heating and ventilating school buildings and also invented a dry closet system that was installed in several schools but developed a bad reputation. He success came to a halt ion December 1, 1898 when he became the largest bankrupt under the 1898 Bankruptcy Law, claiming liabilities of $900,000 and no assets. His case was discharged the following February, with his many creditors receiving nothing.
Smead then decided to enter the hot water district heating business, which had been pioneered by fellow Toledo resident Homer T. Yaryan. Smead petitioned many cities for a franchise to install his system, which was basically a modification of Yaryan's successful design. He approached Bay City, Saginaw and Grand Rapids in Michigan, along with Cincinnati and Wshington Court House in Ohio. He also built a system in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Smead's system did not utilize exhaust steam from electric generation, rather relying on a very efficient boiler. His two systems proved to be uneconomical to operate and were soon bought by local electric companies who used exhaust steam to heat the hot water.
References
1889 Ventilation
and warming of buildings : upon the principles as designed and
patented by Isaac D. Smead
1889 The Smead system of dry closets in the Cleveland High School building, by Isaac D. Smead & Co.
1898 "The
Smead System of Dry Closets a Fizzle and Failure," The Plumbers
Trade Journal 24:366 (December 15, 1898)
Isaac D. Smead of Toledo on the 1st filed the largest petition in
bankruptcy on record since the act went into effect. The story of his
business enterprises rivals fiction in its features of interest. His
liabilities are placed at $900,000, and it is said there are no assets.
1899 "Isaac
D. Smead Discharged," The Weekly Pantagraph, February 24,
1899, Page 1.
Former Bloomington Founder, Who. Failed Heavily, Cannot Pay a Cent.
Toledo, O., Feb. 28. Isaac D. Smead, the well-known furnace manufacturer,
who recently failed for $1,500,000, was today discharged by the court. The
creditors received nothing.
1899 "Bay City Rejects a Smead System," The Grand Rapids Press, October 10, 1899, Page 4.
1899 "To
Sell Hot Water," The Grand Rapids Press, October 11, 1899,
Page 6.
Will furnish heat for one thousand buildings from a central station.
Isaac M. Smead & Co., contracting engineers of Toledo, are behind the
project. Their plan is not new and can hardly be called an experiment
since it has been shown to be successful in both Toledo and Pasadena,
Cal., where central hot water stations are in operation. The same company
controls both and is the holder the patents under which the industry is
operated.
1900 "In
Encased Pipes," The Grand Rapids Press, May 19, 1900, Page
10.
The New Hot Water Pipe Distributes Its Heat.
Ordinances have been secured recently at Saginaw and Lexington, Ky.
1900 The
Cincinnati Enquirer, June 8, 1900, Page 5.
The prospectus has been issued of the Central Station Heating Company,
offering stock of the new company to subscribers. This company was
recently organized with a capital of $2,000,000, of which $500,000 is
preferred and $1.500,000 is common. There is but $100,000 of this stock to
be sold now, this amount to be put into the building of a plant at Grand
Rapids, Mich., Washington C. H., or Lexington, Ky where franchises have
been secured for the building of the central station and the laying of
pipes to carry hot water for heating the private dwellings and
institutions. The stock is offered at par for the preferred. with a share
of common with every share of preferred. The officers of the company are
W. E. Hutton. President and Treasurer; Charles E. Prior, Vice President;
A. M. Ainslie, Secretary; Isaac D. Smead, General Manager and Consulting
Engineer.
1900 Central
Station Heating Co. Stock offered. Commercial and Financial
Chronicle 70(1826):1251 (June 23, 1900)
W. E. Hutton & Co of Cincinnati are receiving subscriptions for 10,000
share of the company's capital stock, both common and preferred, "full
paid and non-assessable." The company, it is stated, controls the
inventions, rights and the services of the inventor, Col. Isaac D. Smead,
formerly of Toledo, O., for heating buildings from central stations,
including his stand-pipe system and hot-water lines. The company
owns the sole right to operate in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan,
and as parent company will share in the profits of the local companies to
be organized. The capital stock if $500,000 6 percent preferred
stock and $11,500,000 common stock, all full paid. W. E. Hutton is
President and Treasurer. Many small stations, it is said, are now in
satisfactory operation. General offices, No 110 East Third St.,
Cincinnati ,O.
1900 "Central
Station Heating Company," Municipal Engineering
18(6):411-412 (June 1900)
Isaac D. Smead, general manager and constructing engineer
1900 The
Washington-Smead Hot Water Co., Acts of the Legislature of West
Virginia
Charter issued November 23, 1900
1901 "Central
Station Heating," Municipal Engineering 20(4):195-202 (April
1901)
Smead hot water system at Washington Court House, Ohio. Isaac D.
Smead
1901 "The First Central Station Heating Plant on the Smead System," Municipal Engineering 20(4):243-244 (April 1901)
1901 The
Manual of Statistics
Page 346: The Central Station Heating Co.
It operates a 300-house station, built by the company.
1904 Hot water heating franchise of the Washington Gas and Electric Company, June 13, 1904
1909 Isaac David Smead (31 Jul 1849 - 6 Sep 1909) grave
1950 "Legal Notice," Washington C.H. Record-Herald, April 14, 1950, Page 11.
1950 "DP&L Central Heat Case Put Up to PUC," Washington C.H. Record-Herald, May 6, 1950, Page 1.
1950 "Abandonment of Heat Plant Gets Approval," Washington C.H. Record-Herald, May 10, 1950, Page 14.
1950 "Well Known Landmark of City to Disappear," Washington C.H. Record-Herald, July 15, 1950, Page 1.
2014 Smead Rolling Road
2016 Legendary
Locals of Toledo, by Barbara L. Floyd
Pages 1836-1837: Isaac D. Smead and Company
© 2025 Morris A. Pierce