Merry Christmas from vulcanhammer.info

It is with this post that we wish you a Merry Christmas.

This year 2024 is the sixtieth anniversary of Vulcan’s relocation of its headquarters from Chattanooga to West Palm Beach, FL. Although we cover that history elsewhere on this site, this is a brief summary in photos of that part of the company’s history.

Vulcan first rented space for its office. One of the exciting events of that era was the 1965 visit by a Belgian prince, facilitated by Vulcan’s Belgian partner Nilens.

The reception at the Colony. Prince Alexandre is in the foreground, to the left of the “gap” in the table. clockwise from the Prince is my mother Mrs. Vernell Warrington, Mr. Willy Nilens, Mrs. Wiggs, Mr. Georges van de Velde, Mrs. Rolande Nilens, my father Mr. Henry Warrington, Mrs. Marguerite van de Velde, Mr. Earle Evans (my father’s sales manager,) Mrs. Lee Evans, and Mr. Ken Wiggs, whose construction company built our offices and plant in Florida. Standing in the back is “Van,” the Colony’s maitre d’ and a Belgian himself. (Photo by Mort Kaye Studios, Palm Beach)

In July 1966 Vulcan completed and opened its executive office on 2725 N. Australian Avenue.

The 3 July 1966 article in the Palm Beach Post-Times about the Australian Ave.’s office opening

The following year Vulcan opened its Special Products Division a block away.

Artist’s conception of the Special Products Division plant before it was built. It was called the “Stone Drilling Machine Division” because Vulcan had acquired a manufacturer of water well drills and was planning to move the production to the new facility.

A spectacular photo taken from a helicopter shows a Vulcan offshore hammer at work from a J. Ray McDermott barge in 1976. The barge layout is typical, with the crane on one end, deck in the middle, and heliport on the other. A supply barge and tugboat are pulled up on the barge’s starboard. The platform is off the bow of the barge, but it could also be off of the beam as well.

The years in Florida were exciting ones; they represented the years of the “Offshore Experience.” In addition to directing what was now an international company, the Florida plant built many of the leaders which guided these big hammers to drive the piles down. Below is a shot of one of them being shipped with the hammer from the Port of Palm Beach, Florida Power and Light’s plant being in the background.

In 1978 Vulcan returned the executive offices to Chattanooga. Six years later Vulcan closed and sold the Special Products Division with the collapse of the oil industry. Vulcan’s presence in Florida did not end until two years after that when Vulcan closed the Chairman’s office, just down the road from the Australian Avenue office.

It is our hope that you will have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year where you will know the peace of the Saviour.