Heyl & Patterson Inc. is an American specialist engineering company, founded in 1887 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
History
19th century
Heyl & Patterson was founded by Edmund W. Heyl and William J. Patterson in Downtown Pittsburgh, initially as a sales agency for elevator and conveyor chains and elevator buckets. This developed into supplying complete elevators and conveyors. Because it was located in the Coal Region of southwestern Pennsylvania, it was only natural to branch out into the coal industry.
In 1891, Heyl & Patterson engineered its first coal breaker, upstate in Bradford, Pennsylvania. By the end of the 19th century, Heyl & Patterson had set the industry standard for engineering and manufacturing bulk material handling equipment, such as coal tipples, coal preparation plants, pig iron casting machines and various coal cleaning and handling devices. The company was originally composed of contracting engineers, fabricators and erectors. The industries in the company's initial customer base were not only various types of coal plants, but also cement, chemical, steel, glass, blast furnaces, copper mines, ports, foundries, railroads, shipyards and public utilities.
Heyl & Patterson's original place of business was a three-story building on Third Avenue in Pittsburgh. In 1894, Heyl & Patterson relocated to Market Street, but had outgrown that building by 1899 and moved to the Monongahela riverside avenue of Water Street (now called Fort Pitt Boulevard).
Heyl & Patterson gained some notoriety in its early days through Patterson's marriage to Broadway star Fay Templeton, known for her performances in Gilbert and Sullivan productions.
Early 20th century
In the early 20th century, growth of the business and the extension of activities into new fields caused the need for increased space for machine and structural shops. In 1901, Heyl & Patterson acquired land for a manufacturing plant on Pennsylvania Avenue along the Ohio River in Allegheny City, now known as Pittsburgh's North Side. All machine work and fabrication was done at this North Works facility before materials were shipped out to construction site crews.
In 1904, Heyl & Patterson pioneered the first cranes to lift entire railroad cars, as well as towers to unload barges filled with ore, coal, sand, and slag. 1905 saw the introduction of coal crushers, coke preparation plants, coal handling bridges and mine car dumpers. 1908 saw the first skip hoists and ore bridges to transfer material at steel mills.
In 1924, Heyl & Patterson innovated what would become a staple of the industry - the railroad car dumper.
In 1942, Heyl & Patterson received the U.S. Navy "E" Award for excellence in production achievement, for duties performed during World War II. It was only the sixth recipient since 1900.
By 1950, Heyl & Patterson installations could be found in almost every industrial section of the United States and Canada, as well as South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Though still concentrating in the field of heavy bulk material handling equipment, Heyl & Patterson initiated a diversification policy and added other products to complement its main activities. These products included several that were developed in the company's own research and development department and still others that were handled in the United States for one of Europe's leading engineering firms. As part of its diversification, Heyl & Patterson divided into two business units. The Bulk Transfer Division was formed to design, fabricate, erect, and service the machines that Heyl & Patterson had developed for the bulk material handling industry, as well as more recent product lines such as stackers, reclaimers, belt conveyors, refuse disposal cars and giant loaders for seafaring ships. The Process Division was formed to innovate fluid bed dryer technology to clean and classify coal at coal preparation plants.