Singer Manufacturing Co. No. 1 is a rare, wooden 1898-built locomotive designed by General Electric for use at Singer’s South Bend cabinetry factory. During the nineteenth century, Singer capitalized upon the rich forestry found in northern Indiana for manufacturing sewing machine cabinets. Small, electric locomotives like Singer No. 1 proved beneficial to the plant's operations, since the probability of fires was reduced when compared to the nature of steam locomotives.