"This company is the successor of the Hanover Foundry & Machine Shops, established by Mr. Samuel Fitz, in 1840, at Hanover, Pa., and the Tuscarora Iron Works, of Martinsburg, W. Va., which was established by Mr. Fitz in 1850. The business was carried on under the name of the I-X-L Steel Overshoot Water Wheel Co., until July 15th, 1902, when the name was changed to Fitz Water Wheel Co., for the sake of brevity." (Quote from 1907)

      "In 1840, Samuel Fitz organized the Hanover Foundry and Machine Shop in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Ten years later, in 1850, he opened the Tuscarora Iron Works in present day Martinsburg, West Virginia (in 1850 West Virginia was still a part of the state of Virginia) and set up a machine shop, saw mill, and foundry. The Tuscarora Iron Works was to became the first site of the first all metal water wheel constructed by Fitz in 1852. Prior to this date, Fitz built water wheels that were the traditional wooden variety. The first all metal wheel was constructed for Equality Mills, located in Martinsburg, West Virginia, across from the Tuscarora Iron Works. The Iron Works building is still standing, but Equality Mills burned to the ground several years ago. Although all metal wheels appeared frequently in England by the middle of the 19th century, and while wheels with iron hubs and shafts were used in America before 1852, Samuel Fitz believed that his was the first all metal overshot water wheel to be constructed in the United States." (Quote from A History of the Fitz Water Wheel Company.)

AKA I-X-L Steel Overshoot Water Wheel Co..

Information Sources

• Fitz Water Wheel Co. Catalogue, 1907, pg. 3