A BRIEF HISTORY

F.W. Webb chases its roots back to 1866 when two men – Stultz and Mansur – formed a small brass shop in Boston.  In 1888 they sold their shop to Henry McShane of Baltimore.  The McShane Company was famous for its church bells (many of which still exist today), and its large brass foundry with distribution operations in Washington, Philadelphia New York and now Boston.  The General Manager of the Boston distribution facility was Henry's brother-in-law, Frank W. Webb.  Henry died in 1889 and 1000 men walked to his funeral in downtown Baltimore.  In 1900 Frank W. Webb purchased the Boston facility and changed the name of the company to The F.W. Webb Manufacturing Company.  This new company manufactured brass fittings, faucets and accessories.  They also offered china and enameled iron plumbing fixtures, made primarily by Trenton pottery, under the F.W. Webb label. 

Frank died in 1912, but the company soldiered on until the depression when the Pope family and others purchased the company from the many owners in Baltimore.  The year 1933 saw sales of less than $350,000.  The depression and war years had limited growth, but in late 1945 Roger W. Pope began to expand with new locations in Fitchburg, Greenfield, Hyannis, Pittsfield and Salem, Massachusetts, as well as their first location across state lines in Nashua, New Hampshire.  At his death in 1962 the company had seven locations and sales in excess of $5,000,000.

Throughout the sixties the F.W. Webb Company muddled along, until the early seventies when they purchased Atlantic Pipe in Boston and Crane Supply with locations in Portland, Maine and Springfield, Massachusetts.  These acquisitions were followed by startups in Dover, New Hampshire and Bangor, Maine.  A major purchase in 1978 of Shepard Supply put new company locations in Barre, Rutland and St. Johnsbury, Vermont, augmenting startup locations in Williston, Vermont and Lebanon, New Hampshire.  In 1978 F.W. Webb also built a 60,000 sq./ft. Central Distribution facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire.  The early eighties saw additional growth, and the late eighties brought major increases in both business and locations as new branches were opened in Albany, Plattsburgh and Queensbury, New York.

The early 1990's saw not only tough economic times, but additional expansion into Syracuse, New York and Hartford, Connecticut.  The middle and latter half of the nineties brought much more favorable business conditions resulting in many additions and new buildings for existing branches.  Two major purchases during this time were Energy Control Systems in Woburn , Massachusetts and International Supply Company in Lincoln, Rhode Island.  The former solidified F.W. Webb's presence in the HVAC business with the Bryant line and additional engineering services, while the latter gave Webb control valve capabilities and legitimacy in the more sophisticated world of PVF.  Kentrol, Inc. and Sevco, Inc. were also purchased during this period, furthering Webb's involvement in the control and safety valve industries.  in 1998, Webb purchased the W.L. Blake company in Portland, Maine, the oldest name in Maine's PVF industry, as well as Victor Mfg., an LP gas business which services the entire northeast.

The millenium came and with it additional opportunities as F.W. Webb created the Webb BioPharm division to service pharmaceutical and bio-tech markets throughout New England and New York.  Webb also acquired Utilities Supply, a major player in the plastic PVF business.  Recently new buldings have been constructed or acquired for locationa in Auburn, Brattleboro, Cranston, Dover, Lebanon, Lewiston, Queensbury, Rutland, St. Albans and St. Johnsbury.  The company also constructed their first central pipe facility in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

F.W. Webb today is involved in some twelve different disciplines with a highly sophisticated Information Technologies department monitoring it all.  F.W. Webb operates over 64 locations in seven states, employs over 1100 employees and has sales which exceed $500,000,000. 

CHRONOLOGY OF ACQUISITIONS

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