Have you ever wondered how modern overhead doors became the standard in homes? The story is part of the legacy we share at Overhead Door Company of Hilton Head as part of the Overhead Door Company family.
At the turn of the 20th century, mass-produced automobiles were quickly growing in popularity and accessibility across the United States. People wanted to protect their prized vehicles and would store them in barns or carriage houses, which had doors that opened out like a standard door. These doors were big, heavy, and cumbersome due to the amount of space they required to open fully. By 1921, C.G. Johnson came up with a better way, and the Overhead Door Corporation was born.
The key to the first overhead doors was their hinged panels, allowing them to lift instead of open out. The invention brought a new classification of outbuilding, dubbed “garage” from the French word garer, meaning “to shelter.”
Over the next few years, Johnson, along with his business partner Owen Dautrick, grew their business from manufacturing one door per day to mass-producing overhead doors for home garages by 1924. Automobile owners quickly embraced residential garages as an innovative solution to safely store their vehicles and residential properties were forever changed.
The Overhead Door Company has been at the forefront of the garage door industry from the very beginning. As garage door technologies continue to evolve, we remain committed to providing innovative and top-quality solutions to make garages smarter, safer, and more convenient than ever. It’s simply who we are.