Lines of Business

If a company only owned the land on which one of these activities took place, and did not extract the resources itself, it is classified under Real Estate.

Agriculture

chinchona

cocoa

cotton

cranberries

flax

food crops

hemp

goats

grain

grapes

grass

implement rental

improving subsoil

livestock

peat

plantain

rhea

rice

sheep

spices

sugar

tea

threshing

vegetables

Clay

Fishery

whaling

mollusks (including clams, oysters, mussels, snails)

Forest

Geological surveys

Greenhouse

Ice

Ivory

Kaolin

Lumber

boom

rafting

timber cutting (and rafting)

Mining (including quarrying)

asphaltum

barytes

bath stone

blende

cannel

carbon oil

chalk

chrome iron ore

coal

coal oil

copper

fossils

flagstone

gold

granite

gypsum

iron

kaolin

lead

limestone

manganese

marble

mineral oils

nitre

ore

phosphate

quartz

rock oil

salt

sandstone

serpentine stone

shale

silver

slate

soapstone

sulfur

tin

zinc (including calamine)

Ochres

Pasture (Weide)

Petroleum (including naptha)

Salt water

Sand

Silk production

Stockyard

Stud farm (including horse breeding)

Construction (CON)

This category is for companies that seemed to be engaged solely in construction. If a company was to build a specific structure such as a bridge, dam, or road and then to operate it, it is classified according to the business it would operate.

Arcade

Architecture

Boom

Bridges (if operation, use TR)

Channel construction

Docks (if operation, use TR)

Drainage (use this if the co. drains but does not own the land; if it owns the land, use RE – Polder)

Fencing

Harbor improvements

Hydraulic works (e.g., dams)

Irrigation system

Levee

Lighthouse

Market center

Pipeline

Public works

Railroad (e.g, laying of rails; if operation, use TR)

River improvements

Road building (if operation, use TR)

Roofing

Streetcar

Tombs

Tunnel

Wharves

Real estate (RE)

Companies in these lines of business generally owned, managed, or improved real property but did not extract natural resources.

Building (ownership and, say, rental of a structure)

housing

market (including exchange hall)

music hall

public

shopping arcade/mall

Land sales

Polder (= reclaimed marsh)

Property development

Property management

Manufacturing (MFG)

These companies made semi-finished products or worked semi-finished products (e.g., iron ingots) into finished products. If the company manufactured items in order to operate them itself (e.g., stagecoaches or sleeping cars) and did not appear to sell such items to other companies, it is classified under the category appropriate for the operation.

Agricultural implements

Alkali

Artificial stone

Artificial tortoiseshell

Artificial whalebone

Asphalt

Bedframes

Belts (for machinery)

Bleach

Bobbins

Boilers

Bone crushing

Bone products

Boxes

Brassworks (mills or buildings in which brass is created)

Brass products (i.e., articles manufactured from brass)

Bread

Brewery

Brick

Brushes

Buttons

Cable (including wire)

Candles

Cannons

Carbon products

Cards (for textile manufacturing)

Carpet

Carriages

Castor

Cement (including hydraulic)

Ceramics (including earthenware)

Champagne

Charcoal

Chemicals

Clocks -- see Timepieces

Clothing

shirts

trousers

Coal products (including coke)

Coffins

Compost

Confections (including candy, chocolate)

Cooperage

Copperworks

Copper refining

Cordage

Cork (including cork-cutting)

Cotton gins

Cotton press

Cutlery

Dairy

Dates

Deodorizers

Distillery

Doors

Dry saltery

Dye

Engines (type is indicated in parentheses)

Explosives

Eyelets

Factory

Feathers

Fertilizer

Firearms

Fire lighters (including matches)

Fish products

Floor coverings

Food

Footware (including boots and shoes)

Forge

Foundry

Fuel

Furnace smoke consumers

Furniture

Gas (i.e., production; if distribution is included, use UT)

Gas generation appartus

Gas lights

Gas meters

Glass (including windows and glassware)

Glass silvering

Gloves

Gold products

Gun powder

Gutta percha

Gutta percha products

Gypsum

Handbags

Hardware

Hats

Hemp

Hollow ware

Hosiery

Ice

Indurated stone

Ink

Ironworks (i.e., the mills or buildings in which iron is smelted or heavy iron products [e.g., ingots, bar iron] are made)

Iron products (i.e., articles manufactured from iron)

Jewelry

repair

Jute

Lamps

Leadworks (mills or buildings in which lead is refined)

Lead products (i.e., articles manufactured from lead)

Leak indicators (for ships)

Leather

Leather goods

Lime

Locks

Locomotive grease

Looms

Machine tools

Machinery

Manure

guano

Marble works

Mattresses

Meal

Meat packing

Medicine

Metals

Metalworking

Mill

corn

flour

grist

wheat

Mill straps

Mirrors

Mustard

Nails

Oil cloth

Oil

castor

coconut

cotton-seed

lard

linseed

seal

whale

Other (type is indicated in parentheses)

Oxygen

Paint

Painters' materials

Paper

Paper products (not publications)

Paraffine

Petroleum

Pianos

Pickling

Pipes

Plaster

Polish

Porcelein

Pottery

Preserved meat

Printing type

Powder

Pumps

Quartz crushing

Rice

Rolling mill

Rolling stock (including railroad engines and car)

Rope

Rope bags

Rubber

Rubber products

Rudders

Saltworks

Sandpaper

Sawmill

Screws

Sewing machines

Shingles

Ship parts

Ships

Silver products

Slate products

Slaughterhouse

Sleeping cars

Slip (as in boat slip?)

Smelting

Soap

Soapstone

Soda

Stagecoaches

Starch

Steamboats

Steam coaches

Steam cotton press

Steam devices

Steam fuel

Steam mill

Steel

Stone cutting

Stoves

Sugar refining

Sulfuric acid

Tablecloths

Tailoring

Tannery

Telegraph equipment

Tents

Textiles

cotton

elastic

felt

fleece mill

lace

linen (including flax)

oakum

silk

wool

thread

tow

yarn

spinning

weaving

dying (of fabrics)

printing (of fabrics)

waterproofing

Tile

Timepieces

repair

Tinworks

Tobacco

Tools (other than machine tools or agricultural implements)

Toys

Turpentine

Umbrellas

Upholstery

Vinegar

Wagons

Washing machines

Water (bottled)

Wheelwright

Window sashes

Winery

Wire - see cable

Wood

Wood products

Woodworking machinery

Workshop

Zinc

Transportation (TR)

These companies sold transportation services. If they operated in colonies, this is indicated in parentheses. If the company engaged in construction only (say, of bridges), not operation, it is classified under Construction.

Barge

Boats (in French, bateaux or paquebot)

Bridge

Canal (including hydraulic works if only for locks)

Canal navigation

Carriages (not mfg.)

Causeway

Docks

Express shipping

Ferry

Freight

Gondola

Harbor (including maintenance)

Highway

Horse railway

Horse rental

Marina

Marine elevating docks

Marine railway

Navigation

Ocean shipping

Omnibus

Passengers

Pier -- see Docks

Plank road

Pleasure barge

Railroad (not horse or marine – see separate listings above)

River navigation

Road

Shipping

Sleeping cars

Stagecoaches

Steam coaches

Steam navigation (including steam boats, steam packet, steam shipping)

Streetcar

Taxi

Towing (including tugboat or towboat)

Train car rental

Turnpike

Wagons

Wharves

Communication (COM)

Courier

Messenger

News distribution

Postal service

Telegraph

Utilities (UT)

The principal business of these companies was the provision of power, light, or heat.

Dam (for power)

Electricity

Gas heating

Gas lighting

Gasworks

Heating and ventilation

Hydraulic works (using water to generate power, not for canal locks)

Hydrogen gas (platinised gas extracted from water)

Lighting

Lime lighting

Sewage

Steam power (for sale to others)

Waterworks (supplying non-bottled water, including aqueducts and reservoirs)

Finance (FIN)

Banking

Credit (type is indicated in parentheses)

Deposit

Discount

Exchange

Loan

Mortgage

Savings

Trust

Building and loan

Debt collection

Guaranty

Investment (including business capitalization)

Mortgage

Pawnbroker

Stock Brokerage

Insurance (INS)

Accident (or casualty)

Accidental death

Agricultural

Annuities

Carriage

Commercial paper (including bank notes, bills of exchange, and specie)

Colonization

Creditors‘ losses

Crime losses

Employer liability

Fidelity (of persons employed)

Fire

Fishing

Flood

Freight

Glass

Hail

Health

Horse

Jewels

Life

Lightening

Livestock

Marine (including maritime)

Military draft

Mortgage

Natural disasters

Passenger

Property (personal)

Real estate (including home)

Re-insurance

River

Slaves

Steam boiler

Storm

Title

Trade

Transportation

Travelers

Wind

War

Trade (TD)

These companies merely bought and sold the products in question.

Agricultural products

Auction

Broker

Cattle

Coal (not mining)

Coke

Commercial paper

Cotton

Firewood

Fishmonger

Granary

Guano imports

Hay and straw

Imports

Iron

Livestock

Market (including exchange company; type in parentheses)

stock = shares of companies

corn = grain for British companies

Minerals

Petroleum

Petroleum storage

Regulation

Sales (type is indicated in parentheses)

Store (type is indicated in parentheses)

Tar

Textiles

Tobacco

Warehouse

Publishing (PB)

Books

Journal

Music

Newspaper

Printing

Other Services (OS)

Advertising

Anchor and chain testing

Archery range

Baths

Benevolent organizations

Business startup (type is indicated in parentheses)

Cemetery (including mausoleum)

Chimney sweep

Clerical placement agency

Club house

Colonization

Commercial documents

Consumer representation

Dispute resolution

Drama society

Education (including schools; type in parentheses)

Emigration

Engineering

Engraving

Exhibitions (including expositions)

Exploration

Fine arts

Fitting (as in mechanical fittings)

Funerals

Gallery