June 1897: Cabarrus County Commissioners 
Purchase Road Equipment

James Lafayette (J. L.) Stafford was a 

Cabarrus County Commissioner in June 

of 1897. Courtesy of Robert Stafford.

At their monthly meeting on Monday, June 7, 1897, Cabarrus County Commissioners William H. Blume, E. P. Deal and J. L. Stafford heard and passed a motion to purchase several pieces of new road equipment for the county. The Thursday, June 17, 1897 issue of the Concord Times noted the county's purchase of the new equipment from Austin & Western Company of Chicago. The machinery included:

"a No. 10 Western rock crusher, a 32 ton latest improved Austin riverside roller, an 18 horsepower high grade portable engine and boiler on wheels, an elevator 19 feet in length and a six-foot revolving, anti-friction steel spring screen dividing stone into three sizes."

 According to the Times, the Commissioners expected to receive the equipment and have it in operation before their July 5 meeting.

Copies of the Minutes of the Cabarrus County Commissioners from 1868 to 1940 and the Concord Times from 1885 to 1929 are available at the Concord Library, Lore History Room.

Courtesy of the Concord Library, Lore History Room

Commissioners purchased a steam powered "portable engine and boiler on wheels," similar to the above model. Courtesy of www.practicalmachinist.com .