The Hulett Automatic Ore Unloader was invented by George H. Hulett, a native of Ohio, in the late 1800's. He recieved the patent for this invention in 1898 and the following year the first working model was built at Conneaut Harbor in Conneaut, Ohio. It was constructed by the Webster, Camp & Lane Company of Akron. The Hulett Automatic Ore Unloader became an essential element in the development of the iron ore industry in Ohio, allowing rapid unloading of cargos and increasing the volume and efficiency of ore docks at Ohio ports such as Ashtabula, Cleveland, Conneaut, Huron, Lorain, and Toledo. The machines remained in use, with few changes, until 1992. Though most have now been disassembled, six still stand as reminders of their domination of iron ore unloading. Four of these six are located on Whiskey Island at Cleveland, Ohio. Their fate is uncertain, as there is now a debate over whether or not they should be dismantled to make way for new waterfront development in Cleveland or preserved as a reminder of Cleveland's industrial heritage.

This page of thumbnailed photographs presents a few of the many views of the Hulett Automatic Ore Unloader which were taken over the years.

Many articles were written about the Hulett Automatic Ore Unloaders. These are two of the articles which appeared in Engineering News in 1905, as the importance of the Hulett Unloader began to develop.

"Ore Unloading Machines for Use at Receiving Docks."

"Magnetic Switch Controllers on Electrically-operated Automatic Ore Unloaders at Lorain, O."

In addition, this digital version of the 1946 work The Pennsylvania Railroad's Cleveland Docks provides written and photographic information about how the Hulett Automatic Ore Unloaders functioned on the ore docks.

As the fate of the last six Huletts has come into question, a number of articles have been written regarding their importance. One of those articles is "Cleveland's Huletts Still Standing Tall." by Carol Poh Miller. This article was originally published in the newsletter of the Society for Industrial Archeology and has been updated here on December 29, 1998 with an additional author's note.

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