Founded in 1892 by Robert M. Keating, the Keating Wheel Company originally operated as a bicycle manufacturing enterprise in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The remarkable success of the company motivated Keating to seek a larger space for an expanded factory. This quest led him to discover an ideal piece of land situated just south of the Mattabesset River in Middletown.

In 1899 the Keating Wheel Company expanded their production to include specialized horseseless vehicles, and the company was reformed as the Keating Wheel and Automobile Company, still operating out of their Johnson Street facility. The company was to specialize in manufacturing “delivery autos” to be powered by electric storage battery power, with the advantage that they could cross snowy streets, traverse mud, and climb heavy grades.

Plans were made for the company to produce Keating Motor Bicycle. In 1901 the first prototype was completed, and improvements were announced for the 1902 production year. The Middletown factory is often cited as the site of the first true production of a motorcycle in the United States.