Taber Motor Company, one of the oldest continuously owned automotive businesses in central New York, was established by Ernest E. Taber in 1919. His brother, Earl C. Taber, had a garage called Cato Motor Car Company. Taber Motor Car Co. sold Ford vehicles and farm equipment, while Cato Motor Car Co. sold Chevrolet cars. It was in October 1928 that the two companies consolidated in order to handle the Oldsmobile cars, GMC trucks and Chevrolet cars. In November 1928, a Chevrolet roadster car sold for $574.50 and an Oldsmobile coupe sold for $1,015. In 1929 Taber's took on the Buick agency.

The firm incorporated in 1929 with capital stock of $30,000 for the purpose of buying motor vehicles, trucks, tractors, farm machinery and operating a repair garage. Charles Streeter, Ernest and Earl Taber were the first directors of the corporation.

In the early years, the office for the firm was located where Cooper's Body Repair Shop and Cato Motor Car Co. was. These businesses would be in 2006, next to Van Norstrand's gas station on West Main Street. Later the business was in the building now used as Van Doren' Body Repair Shop on West Main Street in the village of Cato.

The firm's present large showroom, office and repair garage on East Main Street was formerly the Cato Union Free School building. After renovation for use by the firm, two properties adjacent on the west side were annexed. The Grange Hall site became a sales lot and the former Hapeman Garage became the reconditioning shop.

In 1976, the firm leased the former West End Garage from United Refining Co. and eventually purchased it and, it is still owned and operated by the firm with Jim Mack as manager/technician.

The auto sales business has included selling Hudson, Kaiser-Fraser, Dodge, Plymouth, plus Dodge Trucks, Massey-Harris tractors, John Deere equipment, John Deere and Artic Cat snowmobiles, in addition to the previous named agencies. They sold Oldsmobile vehicles for more than 50 years. When General Motors did away with the Oldsmobile vehicles, Taber Motor Co. changed its sales operation to selling very good used vehicles. Customers come from all over CNY to purchase their vehicles from Taber's.

The business has been in the Taber family for several generations, passing from Ernest and Earl to their nephew, Glen Taber, and then on to his son, Douglas. Glenn was with the firm all of his working years, retiring in December 1987.

Doug has worked in the sales and service departments as manager and in January 1988 became president of the corporation. One can still find him out selling cars to the general public along with the other sales people, Fred Rickard and Don Teter. Because customers speak of the great service, the honesty and the warm and friendly way they are treated, the firm won the Oldsmobile Elite award for satisfied customer service several times.

In the spring of 2006, the firm's personnel in the service department are: manager, Frank Doll; technicians Richard Coe, Corey Curtis and Cliff Savery as jack of all trades; and parts manager, Harvey Mills. The office personnel are Jackie Van Doren, Shirley Doll and Kay Priest.

Savery is the new and used car reconditioning person.

Dorothy Southard is the town of Ira historian