THE STARR PIANO COMPANY

When you think of ghost towns you probably get an image of abandoned mining villages somewhere in the western states. But there are ghosts from previous eras to be found in most every community. Such an example is located in Richmond, Indiana’s Whitewater River Valley Gorge. Here was once the largest manufacturer of pianos in the country, The Starr Piano Company. Founded in 1872, by the mid-nineteen twenties Starr was producing 15,000 pianos, 35,000 spring-driven phonographs, and 3 million records annually.

A recreation of an advertisement card for the company’s Dayton, Ohio showroom.

Foreign competition eventually captured most of Starr’s sales which resulted in the company producing its last piano in 1949. The 750,000 square foot complex of buildings would be utilized by various companies over the next two decades before descending into deterioration. In recent years a foundation was formed (www.starrgennett.org) and steps have been taken to preserve what still remains.

Between the years 1916 to 1934, Starr’s Gennett Records division made thousands of acoustic and electric recordings which were sold under various label names. The company would make records of whatever it could sell which ranged from KKK propaganda to some of the first recorded works of Black Jazz, Blues and Country Music artists. Some of the better known musicians included Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Martin, Hoagy Carmichael, and Gene Autry.

This picture shows William Jennings Bryan in the Gennett studio making a recording of his "Cross Of Gold" speech. RMB