In 1929, Northern Pump Company was created from the merger of two Minneapolis, Minnesota, businesses: Northern Fire Apparatus Company and the Pagel Pump Company. In January 1941 Northern Pump left its Central Avenue location for a new plant in Fridley, Minnesota, and in June 1942 created the subsidiary Northern Ordnance Incorporated to fulfill its federal production contracts.
Post-war, Northern Ordnance continued its naval production and in 1964 was purchased by Food Machinery Corporation (FMC), of San Jose, California (the former renamed Northern Ordnance Division). FMC operated the site until 1994, when a series of corporate mergers and sales began. As of 2009, BAE Systems, a defense, security, and aerospace company, owned and operated the Fridley production site.
John Blackstock "Jack" Hawley, Jr. was born on July 11, 1899, in Texas to John B. and Sue (Terrell) Hawley. A graduate of Cornell University (1921), Jack Hawley became a civil engineer, eventually employed with Minnesota's Cargill, Inc.
Hawley purchased and managed Northern Pump Company upon its creation. He secured Northern Pump's first order for the Navy in 1932, which proved a profitable relationship in coming years. (Hawley's was the sixth highest personal salary in the United States for fiscal year 1944.) In 1964, Hawley sold Northern Ordnance to FMC, though he continued to own and operate Northern Pump Company. He died on June 29, 1980, at age 80.
From the guide to the Northern Pump Company records., 1916-1980., (Minnesota Historical Society)
