Very few companies can claim even a century-long existence. Not counting the Cari years, Vulcan Iron Works endured for 144 years from its founding by Henry Warrington until 1996. The portion of vulcanhammer.info focuses on the first hundred years "and then some:" the years the company was located in Chicago, 1852-1960. During this time, the … Continue reading Vulcan Iron Works: The First Century
George was the only one of the three Warrington brothers to marry; Chester was his only child. In 1933, with James Warrington's death, Chester inherited a company with which he had had little to do until that time. He attempted to direct it from Washington. The failure of Cord-Auburn-Duesenberg, coupled with a looming war and … Continue reading Vulcan At War
In the deep foundations industry, the Warrington family is primarily associated with Vulcan. But for many years, and especially in the half century between 1890 and 1940, a good part of the family was engaged in other activities. We invite you to visit our companion site Chet Aero Marine which goes into the family's involvement … Continue reading The Warrington Family: Broadened Horizons
William H. Warrington (1846-1921), the major investor and manager of Vulcan Iron Works until his death, at which time the direction passed to his brother James. Of the three sons of Henry Warrington, he was without a doubt the best businessman, but occasionally things did not go according to plan, as was the case with … Continue reading 327 North Bell Avenue Facility
Vulcan Iron Works started out as a foundry, and from that evolved into a company primarily manufacturing pile driving equipment. Yet throughout its history it engaged in the manufacture of a wide variety of products, as the Special Products Division is evidence of. Sometimes things didn't go according to plan with these "special products," and … Continue reading Caldwell Steam Snow Plow
Henry Warrington (1817-1904), Founder of Vulcan Iron Works Henry Warrington was originally from Manchester, England, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1842. He came to Chicago and worked as the shop foreman in the boiler shop of James W. Cobbs, whose plant was located at Canal and Kinzie Streets. In 1852, he founded what ultimately … Continue reading The Beginnings of Vulcan
Everyone has an experience in their life that they count the greatest. Corporations do, too. For Vulcan Iron Works, that experience was its involvement in offshore oil development. Come join us as we take a look at Vulcan's involvement offshore, which follows a fascinating (and very profitable) saga of American commercial history. You can click … Continue reading Vulcan: the Offshore Experience
Much of what we have presented about Vulcan's offshore adventure has been done in the past tense. This is a little misleading; Vulcan hammers are still used to install offshore platforms all over the world today, simple, reliable and economical as always. The sun still does not set on working Vulcan equipment. However, it is … Continue reading The Saga Continues
The concept of using sea water as the motive fluid for an underwater hydraulic hammer is an intriguing one. Doing so has two key advantages: Eliminates the use of hydraulic fluid, which can be environmentally hazardous (depends on the type); and Eliminates the need for a return line, irrespective of whether the pump/power pack is … Continue reading Sea Water Pile Hammer
Vulcan never developed an underwater hammer of its own for offshore use. Although today use of these hammers for deep water projects is routine, the road to viable offshore hammers was a long one, even for companies better situated than Vulcan to get there. The Ocean Pile Hammer Vulcan's first underwater hammer was the Mariner … Continue reading Vulcan, Underwater and Hydraulic Hammers
