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Henry Ford had
something other than cars on his mind in
1883. A 20-year-old just off the farm, he
was thinking about how fieldwork could be
done better by machines. After he mastered
the assembly line automobile in the early
1900s, Ford returned his attention to
tractors with the 1917 formation of Henry
Ford and Son. By the end of that year,
Fordson tractors were coming off the
assembly line, and an order for 7,000 was
placed by Great Britain to boost wartime
food production.
In 1917,
George U. Lansdowne established a hardware
and appliance firm, and in 1937, acquired
the Ford tractor dealership with the
financial backing of the Moody family from
Galveston. Mr. Ed Erpp was the general
manager at the time and ran the dealership
for Mr. Lansdowne. Mr. Lansdowne eventually
bought out the Moody family, becoming the
sole owner. The dealership was located in
downtown Houston on Texas Avenue. In 1953,
Ed Harris Sr. was hired as a general
manager. After one year Lansdowne had grown
to five employees with $200,000 in total
sales; this was just the beginning of many
years of growth. George
 Lansdowne remained
in ownership until his death in 1959. At
that time, Ed Harris Sr. purchased the
company from the Lansdowne family. In 1962,
Lansdowne had outgrown the Texas Avenue
location, so land was purchase on Lockwood
and the business moved to that location in
1962.
After
serving in the US Marines Eddie Harris Jr.
began to work for the company in 1964 and
quickly moved up to become general manger.
As Houston began to grow on the southwest
side, the decision was made to open a second
location. Land was purchased on Fondren, and
Lansdowne now had two locations when the
store open in 1969. Houston continued to
grow and Lansdowne grew along with the city.
In 1978 Lansdowne had once again outgrown
its Lockwood location. The decision was soon
made to move
 the location to one that would
allow for future growth. That is when
Lansdowne moved to its current location at
8445 East Freeway. Houston began to expand
to the south, so in order to serve those who
were moving to this area the Webster
location opened in 1983.
Two years
later, Lansdowne-Moody became a Kubota
tractor dealer with the opening of the
northwest location in Cypress. And in May of
1992 the third generation of the Harris
family started with the company. Hunter
Harris began in sales and in 2002 became
Lansdowne-Moody's general manager nearly 50
years after his grandfather took that
position. Lansdowne has always been a
company eager to change as Houston has
changed. So in 2000, after serving the
southwest side for 33 years, the Fondren
store was sold and relocated to Beltway 8
and Hwy 59 south still on the southwest side
of town.
Through the
years, Lansdowne-Moody has grown to a
company
 with more than 55 employees.
Lansdowne has always - and continues to be -
committed to providing everyone in the
Harris county area with the best sales,
parts, and service available. Plans are
currently underway to remodel and expand the
Cypress location as the northwest side of
town continues to grow. With three
generations of Harris's now involved in the
business, we have remained a family-owned
and operated company. A Houston family that
understands the equipment needs of
Houstonians. |
