Harvey Firestone: Founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Business Owner · Automotive
Harvey Firestone started making rubber carriage tires in 1890 and founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in 1900, one of the first global automobile tire makers.
About Harvey Firestone: Founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. (December 20, 1868 to February 7, 1938) was an American businessman and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires. He was born in Columbiana, Ohio, and grew up on the farm built by his grandfather; the family name was originally Feuerstein, German for flint or firestone, and his ancestor Nicholas Feuerstein immigrated from Alsace in 1752 and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1983 the original farm was disassembled and moved to Greenfield Village, the 90-acre historical site in Michigan founded by Henry Ford. Firestone was the second of Benjamin and Catherine Flickinger Firestone's three sons. On November 20, 1895 he married Idabelle Smith, and they had seven children; his great-grandchildren include William Clay Ford Jr. After graduating from Columbiana High School he worked for the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio, before starting his own company in 1890 making rubber tires for carriages, and in 1900 he founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Sources: English Wikipedia (Harvey Firestone, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Founder, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (1868-1938)
Company Details
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Tires, Rubber Manufacturing