Alma Manufacturing Company (Republic Truck), Alma, MI

The Alma Manufacturing Company was located in Alma and began producing cars for the Cameron Car Compay of Springfield, MA in 1913. Cameron went bankrupt shortly thereafter and the plant began producing trucks that same year for the Maxwell Motor Company. The company was reorganized as the Alma Motor Truck Company and then renamed as the Republic Motor Truck Company. The factory employed as many as one thousand men and was located at Michigan Avenue and Bridge Street.

A second plant was built on Superior Street to produce a new model. (This plant would later become the Lobdell-Emery Manufacturing Company.) The company workforce was now 2,000 and assembled 30,000 trucks per year. Because of over-aggressive borrowing and a downturn in business, the company went into receivership in 1921. The Company was moved to Saginaw.

Republic was bought by American-LaFrance in 1929 and Republic truck ceased to exist. 

[From an article by David McMacken, the MorningSun.com]

Lobdell-Emery built wood and metal clad wood bicycle rims and other products in the facility. They also moved steering wheel production from Onaway, MI to here in 1926 following a devastating fire at their plant in Onaway.