Athens Boiler and Machine Works

The Athens Boiler and Machine Works was formed from companies that started in Athens, Ga., around 1848. In 1972, the company moved to Elberton, Ga. It ceased operations in 1994.

Athens Boiler and Machine Works (ABMW) of Elberton, Ga., evolved from companies in Athens, Ga. Athens Foundry, chartered in 1848 as an offshoot of the Athens Coal Gas company, began casting iron in 1851. The castings consisted of coal grates, andirons, municipal grates, construction elements, and houseware items for use in the local community.

Following the Civil War, the Athens Foundry continued casting a variety of items for local consumption while branching out into machine tooling to meet the needs of growing industry across the piedmont. Re-capitalization during the 1880s brought additional skills and machine tools to the foundry, which became known as the Athens Foundry and Machine Works. In 1928, the Arnold family sold the enterprise to Augustus Blount, a retired official of the Georgia Railroad.

During World War II, the Athens Foundry and Machine Works developed a lucrative business fabricating steel canning retorts (pressure vessels) used in processing military rations. Following the war, while continuing various lines of job production castings and one-off repair pieces for local industry, the Athens Boiler and Machine Works began selling, repairing, and installing heating and dry cleaning boilers throughout the Southeast.

Shortly after this, granite finishing concerns located in Elberton, Ga., approached Athens Boiler and Machine Works about producing cast iron polishing wheels to be used in granite processing. As boiler sales dropped off during the 1960s, urban renewal in Athens and the growing demand for granite polishing wheels prompted a move to Elberton, Granite Capital of the World, in 1972. This vein of the business became the staple market for the ABMW until its close in 1994.

Information provided by Ben A. Shackleford of Atlanta, Ga.