Crane Co.

In 1855, brothers Richard and Charles Crane formed R. T. Crane & Bro., which manufactured and sold brass goods and plumbing supplies in Chicago, Illinois. The new company soon won contracts to supply pipe and steam-heating equipment in large public buildings such as the Cook County courthouse and the state prison at Joliet. In 1865, R. T. Crane and Brother was incorporated, and the name of the company was changed to the Northwestern Manufacturing Company. It began to manufacture a full line of industrial valves and fittings in cast iron, malleable iron and brass. By 1870, when it employed about 160 people, it was making elevators as well. After the Chicago Fire of 1871, the company decided to expand its operations. Just after the firm became Crane Bros. Manufacturing Co. in 1872, it employed as many as 700 men and boys and manufactured over $1 million worth of products per year.

In 1890, when it had sales branches in Omaha, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, the company changed its name to Crane Co. By this time, Crane was supplying much of the pipe used for the large central heating systems in Chicago's new skyscrapers, and it was also selling the enameled cast-iron products that were soon found in bathrooms in residences across the country.

In 1910, Crane had begun to manufacture at a plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. A large new Chicago plant on South Kedzie Avenue was built in the 'teens which employed more than 5,000 people. During the 1920s, when Crane expanded overseas, the company was the world's leading manufacturer of valves and fittings. Company sales rose to over US$300 million per annum by the mid-1950s.

In 1959, the Crane family sold their control of the company, and the new owners began to turn Crane into a global conglomerate that made aerospace equipment in addition to their traditional place in the plumbing industry. Headquarters eventually moved from Chicago to Bridgeport. The Crane Plumbing unit was sold off in 1990. Crane Plumbing is now a division of American Standard.