Price Brothers Company

The Price Brothers Company was founded by Harry Steele Price, Sr. at East Jordan, Michigan in February 1899. Originally a one-man home building operation, the Price Brothers Company soon branched out to a theatre, bridges, small dams, and other industrial projects. In 1911, with the operation growing rapidly, Harry Price, along with his brothers Bert, Ed, and Fred, incorporated the business. The first stockholders' meeting was held on June 1, 1911. Harry was elected president and manager; Bert, vice president; Fred, secretary; and Ed, treasurer.

The Price Brothers Company was founded by Harry Steele Price, Sr. at East Jordan, Michigan in February 1899. Originally a one-man home building operation, the Price Brothers Company soon branched out to a theatre, bridges, small dams, and other industrial projects. In 1911, with the operation growing rapidly, Harry Price, along with his brothers Bert, Ed, and Fred, incorporated the business. The first stockholders' meeting was held on June 1, 1911. Harry was elected president and manager; Bert, vice president; Fred, secretary; and Ed, treasurer. In 1912, Price Brothers Company built its first school houses and a Catholic church at Hart, Michigan. In 1913-1916, it built several small dams and other projects throughout Michigan. In 1915, their principle contract was for the construction of a hydroelectric power plant and dam on the Cedar River at Waverly, Iowa.

In 1917, Price Brothers was the low bidder to construct the Island Park Dam in Dayton. This dam was to replace the Steele Dam, which had been practically tipped over in the great 1913 Dayton and Miami Valley Flood. The project lost money for the company, but with an eye toward the Miami Valley Conservancy District projects being planned, Harry Price decided to move the company to Dayton in 1918.

During World War I, war production dried up just about all the available capital and Price Brothers was virtually disbanded. The pinch was also felt by the Miami Valley Conservancy District, which decided to undertake and supervise its own construction. While the company lost out on actual dam construction, Harry Price convinced the Conservancy District that he could manufacture concrete blocks planned for the river banks cheaper that the District. The work was so successful that the company ended up doing a lot more work on the flood control program. As a by-product, the company also received a 1921 project to build and modernize a number of dormitories and other buildings on the Antioch College campus at Yellow Springs, Ohio.

In 1923, the company landed a sizeable dam and power plant contract at Maquoketa, Iowa. During the next three years, the company built large hydroelectric plants at Dixon, Illinois, Iowa Falls, Iowa, and Adel, Iowa.

In 1925, the company participated in the construction of the Island Park Bridge, and built the Veterans' Memorial Bridge over Wolf Creek in Dayton, Ohio. That same year, Dayton planned the construction of a lengthy 84-inch water transmission line to connect the city's newly acquired will fields near Wright Field to Dayton's pumping plant and Keowee Street main. The project attracted Colonel Jefferson Davis Trammel, a civil engineer from Fort Worth, Texas who convinced the city to use concrete pressure pipe. Price Brothers Company was the low bidder on the project. This project launched the company into the concrete pressure pipe business. To produce the pipe the company initially rented, and later bought, land on Monument Avenue. The location became the permanent base of Price Brothers manufacturing operations.

In 1929, Price Brothers started work on the $4.5 million Victoria Dam and hydroelectric development in the remote copper country of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The project was financially sound and carried the company through the first years of the Great Depression.

The low point for Price Brothers during the Great Depression occurred in 1933 when the company work force dwindled to only four employees. The company survived with small street-paving and bridge-repair projects in Dayton.

In 1934, when building jobs were scarce, the Price Brothers acquired the dredging business in the Great Lakes area. Except for a few years during World War II, Price Brothers dredge crews have worked steadily in the Great Lakes area--most notably on the "Soo" locks and many harbors for the St. Lawrence Seaway projects. In 1934, the company took on the reconstruction and paving of Springfield Street and the reconstruction of the Washington Street Bridge in Dayton. In 1935, the company put up a reservoir dam across the Miami River for the Dayton Power and Light Company. The Dayton-based Hadley Gravel Company was purchased in 1936 and a new processing plant constructed on the site. In 1937, the company returned to the Victoria Dam area to complete a major river improvement project at Bond Falls, Michigan that significantly increased the flow of the Ontonagon River and the effectiveness of the Victoria Dam hydroelectric plant.

In 1938, Price Brothers became interested in Flexicore slabs. The idea stemmed from experiments with flexible, inflatable tubes that might be made in large sizes to be used as a quick, easy-to-handle core in pre-casting culvert pipes. At about the same time, Price Brothers hired Homer Rogers who came up with an idea for making asphalt planks out of waste materials. It was felt that the product had good commercial possibilities, and a deal was made to back Rogers in a plant, which he would run for Price Brothers. The plant was later sold to the Johns-Manville Corporation.

Gayle Price was intrigued with the idea of a precast concrete plank that would have permanent applications. The newly developed expandable pneumatic tube provided the key. As a result, patented precast concrete Flexicore floor and roof slabs, reinforced with steel rods, were born. Soon, other concrete product companies became interested in Flexicore products and were granted licenses to manufacture the product. The first of these licenses was granted in 1939.

In 1939, the company convinced the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan on the merits of concrete steel cylinder pressure pipe. It was included in the specifications for a 33-mile, 46-inch diameter high-pressure water supply line project from Lake Michigan to Grand Rapids. In a joint venture with Lock Joint Pipe Company, Price Brothers were the first to install a concrete pressure pipeline in the United States--a major breakthrough for the product and the company.

In 1941, Price Brothers participated in a large, rush contract for construction of a 6,000-foot runway, and for grading, paving, and drainage of new portions of Wright Field at Dayton, Ohio. The company also built and installed the drainage structures for the Field which involved over one mile of 108-inch culvert pipe.

The next Price generation seemed to be more interested in the manufacture and production of concrete pipe and building materials than the construction of dams, hydroelectric plants, or even airfields. As a result, in 1942, voting control of Price Brothers Company was in effect turned over to Gayle and Harry Price, Jr. By doing so, this not only gave them the responsibility but the motivation to take the shell of a construction company and build it up into a growing manufacturer of concrete pipe and concrete building units, and at the same time continuing the dredging division.

In 1942 Price Brothers was selected by the Federal Works Agency to install a water supply line, manufactured by Lock Joint Pipe Company, for the Newport News Shipyard. Despite unforeseen obstacles, the job was completed on time. The reward was other large government contracts. By the time these projects were finished, the Pressure Pipe installation department had become a very important part of the company.

Through the 1950s to the 1980s, the Price Brothers worked on numerous projects; from sewer systems to numerous pipe installations around the country, though largely in the Mid-West and east coast. In 1958, Harry Steele Price, Sr. passed away.

During the 1980s, the Price Brothers Co. worked on the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya. It was a network of pipes that would bring water into the Sahara Desert. In 1998, the salaried employees bought the company from the Price family. James S. Clift became the president and CEO of the Price Brothers Company.

In 2001, Harry Steele Price, Jr. passed away. Later in 2007, Hanson Pipe and Precast purchased all outstanding share of The Price Brothers Company. They also acquired all their operable plants around the country.

From the guide to the Price Brothers Company Records, 1877-2006, 1940-1970, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)