Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. was a major manufacturer of saws and other woodworking tools and one of the largest industrial firms in Philadelphia.

Henry Disston, the founder of the firm, was born in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, in 1819 and emigrated with his father to Philadelphia in 1833. His father died soon after, and Henry was apprenticed to Lindley, Johnson & Whitcraft, saw manufacturers. The firm failed in the depression in 1840, and young Disston took the tools and stock in lieu of back wages and established his own shop. Disston introduced the Sheffield practice of using crucible steel with the assistance of skilled workers imported from the Sheffield district. Disston produced the first crucible saw steel manufactured in the United States in 1855. A rolling mill was added in 1862.

Hamilton Disston, Henry's eldest son, joined the firm in 1865 as Henry Disston & Son. Albert Disston joined in 1870. In 1872 fire destroyed a large part of the original factory, and Disston gradually moved the entire operation to Tacony on the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia. Here Disston built substantial houses for his employees, a school, library, and music hall. The firm remained under the control of Henry Disston's extended family after his death in 1878. The firm was incorporated under the laws of Pennsylvania in 1886. It gained an international reputation for the quality of its products, its skilled work force, and its ability to respond quickly to the demands of a competitive market.

The Disston family sold the company to the H.K. Porter Company, Inc. of Pittsburgh in 1955. Operated by Porter as a subsidiary, Disston, Inc., the operation was sold to Sandvik AB of Sweden in 1972. It was sold to R.A.F. Industries, Inc., in 1984 and reorganized as Disston Precision Incorporated. The new company still manufactures saws and other flat steel products in custom lots under the Disston brand name in Philadelphia.

From the description of Account books of Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. and subsidiary firms, 1824-1918 {bulk, 1867-1907]. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 240302936