Kelly-Springfield Tire Co., Akron, Ohio, U.S.A.

Kelly-Springfield Tire Co.

Founded by Edwin Kelly and Arthur Grant in 1894, the company was originally called the Rubber Tire Wheel Company because it made rubber carriage wheels. In1896 Arthur Grant was issued a patent (US 554675) for his solid rubber tire in a rim channel. The tire was held on the wheel by two longitudinal wires embedded in the rubber and forming a circle of smaller circumference than the tire.