DURALOY'S
HISTORY
Humble
BEGINNINGS
Thomas Rhett Heyward Jr. – Founder, 1881– 1954
Predecessors leading to the formation of The Duraloy Co.:
Cutler Steel Company – formed by Mr. Heyward in "early" 1921
in Pittsburgh, Pa. to work in conjunction with Mr. Heyward's
steel foundry located in New Cumberland, WV. Mr. Heyward’s
foundry was then known as the Thomas R. Heyward Co. and produced
only heat-treated steel castings.
Late 1921 – Mr. Heyward’s new company licenses an alloy of
28-30% Chrome (the rest of Iron) from the Electro-Metallurgical
Co. of New York and acquires the new trademark name for this
alloy of DURALOY.
This was the beginning of commercial use of the
DURALOY name, but not yet as a company.
1921 – 1925: - Owing to deplorable economic conditions and
slow growth and acceptance of the new and expensive alloy,
Cutler Steel Co. and the foundry at New Cumberland, WV ceased
operations with debts to creditors amounting to over $45,000.
During this time, Mr Heyward and several new investors
formed, with the creditors of the old Cutler Steel Co. as 1/5th
owners, The Duraloy Co.
and still in possession of the license for
the new trademarked
DURALOY
alloy, they used business partnerships with,
first, Eastern Steel Casting in Newark, NJ and later Mountain
States Steel Foundry Co. of Parkersburg, WV to try to continue
to develop their alloy and the market. The foundry in New
Cumberland, WV remained in full control of creditors and sat
idle.
Sept. 1925: - Mr. Heyward approached the creditors committee
and negotiated a deal whereby he at first leased, for
$500/month, then, within several months, fully bought out the
creditors for $50,000 and became the sole owner of
The Duraloy Co.
promptly putting the newly named foundry
at New Cumberland, WV back into production.
1927 – Buy vacant lot and build new
offices and warehouse at the corner of 26th
St. and Sarah St. on the South Side of Pittsburgh at a
cost of $37,000.
Jan. 1931 – Duraloy signs agreement to purchases first
centrifugal casting machines, from Shenango-Penn Mold Co. of
Pittsburgh, for the manufacturing of high alloy chrome/nickel
tubes at the New Cumberland, WV foundry.
St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1936 – The great Pittsburgh
flood extended downriver to New Cumberland, WV and devastated
the plant, putting it out of operations for over a month.
Jan. 1937 – A second disastrous flood strikes the New
Cumberland foundry forcing another outage.
Jan. 30. 1937 – The New Cumberland foundry is destroyed by
fire.
THE MOVE TO SCOTTDALE
Feb. 17, 1937 – Mr. Heyward purchases the abandoned U.S. Pipe
& Foundry Co. plant in Scottdale, PA.
April 1, 1937 – The first heat is poured at the new Duraloy
Co. in Scottdale, PA.
1974 – White Consolidated Ind. Purchases The Duraloy Co. from
the Heyward family.
1985 – Blawknox Corp. purchases Duraloy from White
3/31/1994 – Park Corp. purchases Duraloy from Blawknox Corp.
4/4/1994 – 1st heat is cast at
Duraloy Technologies,
Inc. under Park Corp. ownership
7/3/1997 – Park Corp. acquisition of Manoir-Electroalloys in
Elyria, OH. It is renamed Electroalloys and run jointly with
Duraloy management team
4/23/1999 – Electroalloys ceases operations. Business is
blended into Duraloy operations.
4/12/2005 – Park Corp. buys assets of Ultracast, Peru, IN and
promptly liquidates same. Duraloy acquires several pieces of key
production equipment, including its 3rd
Pull Bar Boring machine for petrochemical applications.
4/4/2011 – Duraloy Technologies, Inc. celebrates its 17th
anniversary under Park Corp. ownership.
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