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Advertisements began appearing in local newspapers in early 1906 seeking housing accommodations for employees relocating from Michigan to the Wyoming Valley.
				&ldquo;There is a great demand for houses on the West Side,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported March 3, 1906.
				More than 200 men with 75 of them having wives and children moved to the valley when the Matheson Motor Car Company opened a manufacturing plant on Welles Street in Forty Fort.
				&ldquo;Many of them have been searching for the past few weeks for a suitable location but owing to the great scarcity of desirable houses, they have been unsuccessful in their efforts,&rdquo; the newspaper reported noting a &ldquo;great boom in building&rdquo; was anticipated on the West Side.
				At a time in history when vehicle manufacturers were in their infancy, there was much hope Matheson would employ hundreds of workers to assemble &ldquo;machines&rdquo; as they were called in newspaper stories of the day.
				Two brothers, Frank F. Matheson and Charles W. Matheson, founded their motor car company in Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1903, relocated to Holyoke, Mass., for two years before moving their assembly plant to Forty Fort in 1906. Corporate offices were located inside the Second National Bank Building on West Market Street, Wilkes-Barre, which is today&rsquo;s PNC Bank building.
				For the next six years, the car manufacturer produced and assembled the Matheson Touring Car, the Matheson Runabout and the popular Matheson Silent Six. By 1910, the Matheson machines were equipped with six cylinder engines capable of producing 50 horsepower. Several Matheson machines raced the annual Giants Despair Hill Climb in Wilkes-Barre Township and Laurel Run, which was organized by the Wilkes-Barre Automobile Club. Charles W. Matheson was director of the automobile club and entered six Matheson machines in the 1907 race.
				Matheson machines were also promoted at regional car shows.
				&ldquo;One of the biggest sensations at the present auto show in Madison Square Garden was the Matheson Silent Six. So much favorable comment was heard concerning the local car,&rdquo; reported the Evening News Jan. 20, 1912.
				As cheaper cars came out of Michigan from Ford and Chevrolet, the Matheson car company found itself in financial trouble and ended manufacturing machines in late 1912. Equipment, office furniture and drafting boards from the assembly plant in Forty Fort were sold well below cost.
				&ldquo;Several thousand high speed steel and carbon steel tools, consisting of reamers, taps, cutters, angulars, gears, keyway, slitting saws and dies,&rdquo; were listed in a liquidation sale as posted in the Times Leader on Aug. 27, 1913.
				With the closure of the manufacturing plant, Frank F. Matheson in 1916 became a dealer for Dodge Brothers Motor Cars with a showroom at 52 W. Market St., Kingston, and a service station and garage at 694 Wyoming Ave., Kingston. As the dealership and the entire West Side area expanded, Matheson relocated back to his Welles Street plant in Forty Fort.
				&ldquo;The West Side is rapidly becoming automobile row of Wyoming Valley. Its broad streets and generous areas are drawing auto dealers more and more from central city as traffic conditions become more congested,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported Jan. 10, 1925.
				Dealerships of Cadillac, Ford, Pierce-Arrow, Maxwell, Chrysler, Anderson, Chevrolet, Overland, Durant, Star, International trucks, Paige, Jewett, Nash and Willys-Knight were all located along Market Street and Wyoming Avenue in Kingston.
				&ldquo;The Matheson plant on Welles Street, Forty Fort, is within two miles radius from Public Square and served by the Forty Fort, Wyoming and Pittston trolleys,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported. The building was expanded in 1915 that included four acres of covered floor space used to sell new and used machines, and for storage of vehicles during winter.
				About 18 months after opening on Welles Street, a fire on Nov. 28, 1926, destroyed the building including more than 100 machines.
				&ldquo;One million dollars loss resulted yesterday from a fire which swept the Frank F. Matheson automobile plant on Welles Street, Forty Fort. It was one of the costliest fires experienced in Wyoming Valley in years,&rdquo; the Times Leader reported Nov. 29, 1926.
				Most of the building was salvageable and today houses small commercial businesses.
				Frank F. Matheson died Feb. 11, 1967, in Grand Rapids, Mich. He was 95.

Look Back: Matheson Motor Club Company manufactured vehicles in Forty Fort