Geelong was once home to International Harvester’s largest manufacturing plant in Australia. Commencing in 1939 the plant produced Australia’s first tractor as well as many agricultural items, trucks and items for the war effort. The plant closed in 1982 and little remains of the factory that once took up 18.6 hectares at North Shore overlooking Corio Bay. The following photographs were taken for a booklet published by International Harvester in 1979. International Harvester had a factory workforce of some 1619 heads and was producing more than 2000 tractors, 1000 tillage equipment and 1000 hay and harvest machines, only three years before it closed.
