Martin Band Company

Martin Band Company is located at 431 Baldwin Street. Martin Band Instrument Company, the third company to be established in Elkhart, was not necessarily a new company but the reappearance of an old company. John Henry Martin apprenticed as a horn maker at a young age. He immigrated to the United States in 1855 and moved to Chicago shortly after, where he founded the first Martin Band Instrument Company. Tragedy struck Martin and his company in 1871 when he lost everything to a fire. Martin Band Instrument Company’s loss left the Martin family without a home, living on the street. John Henry Martin, learning of Conn’s in Elkhart, and with nothing else to lose, walked with his family from Chicago to Elkhart in 1876. Martin became the sixth employee to work for Conn, but due to a number of strokes, his employment with Conn became sporadic until his death in 1910. After his death, his son Henry Charles Martin also worked for Conn. Following in his father’s footsteps he started making instruments out of his own home. In 1910 Henry Charles earned enough money to reestablish Martin Band Instrument Company.

The Pedler Company is located at 430 Baldwin Street. From the tennis courts at High Dive Park, look directly across the street to 430 Baldwin, which is the location of the Pedler Company.