The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aerospace manufacturer that was founded in March 1909 by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After achieving significant commercial success in its early years, the company merged with Wright Aeronautical to become the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Glenn Curtiss was recruited in 1907 by scientist Dr. Alexander Graham Bell to establish an aeronautical research and development organization called the Bell’s Aerial Experiment Association (AEA). Shortly before the AEA was disbanded in 1909, Curtiss partnered with Augustus Moore Herring to create the Herring-Curtiss Company. This company was renamed the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in 1910 and later reorganized in 1912 under the Curtiss Motor Company.
The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was established on January 13, 1916, as a result of the merger between the Curtiss Aeroplane Company and the Curtiss Motor Company. The Burgess Company of Marblehead, Massachusetts, became a subsidiary in February 1916. The Curtiss Engineering Company was also established as a subsidiary in Garden City, New York at the same time.
During World War I, demand for military orders increased greatly, and Curtiss needed to expand quickly. The company moved its headquarters and most manufacturing activities to Buffalo, New York, in 1916. An aircraft engine factory was housed in the former Taylor Signal Company-General Railway Signal Company, and an ancillary operation was established in Toronto, Ontario, which included production and training. The first flying school in Canada was set up by Curtiss as a part of this operation.
The Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company ceased operations in 1929 after merging with Wright Aeronautical and becoming the Curtiss-Wright Corporation.