W. H. Martin and Charles Martin purchased a bankrupt iron foundry near the Tennessee River, in the northwest corner, of Alabama. It was not quite 100 years old. Renamed the Martin Stove & Range Company, the foundry soon expanded its line of coal- and wood-burning stoves to include cast-iron hollow ware—everything from skillets and griddles to Dutch ovens and saucepans. For the next 36 years, Martin Stove & Range Company made cast-iron cookware with its distinctive “hamburger” logo. Today, the brand is very collectible.
Cast-iron was not a new business for the Martin brothers. In the early 1900s they worked as salesmen for King Hardware Company in Atlanta, Georgia. In their travels they discovered a foundry in Sheffield, Alabama just across the river, which was for sale. In 1905, the brothers convinced King Hardware to purchase the small foundry and became its managers. Rechristened the King Stove & Range Company, the foundry began making heaters, stoves, and ranges for King Hardware.
The Martin brothers bought the company back from King Hardware 12 years later. They bought the Florence Foundry shortly after and began producing cast-iron cookware both under the King…
