Scope and ContentReference record for research: digital record only. No folder. Keuffel & Esser Corporation, Historical Time Line. (History timeline.) Transcription of text: Keuffel & Esser Corporation, Historical Time Line. Published online at: http://www.antiquesurveying.com/K&E%20History.htm Copyrighted 2005 Robert Parrish, 271 Allman Hill Rd. Weaverville, NC 28787-8510 __________ KEUFFEL & ESSER CORPORATION, HISTORICAL TIME LINE 1867 - K&E founded by William J. D. Keuffel & Herman Esser at 79 Nassau St., Manhattan. Sold drawing materials and drafting tools. William J. D. Keuffel president until 1908. 1868 - First catalog published. 1869 - First production of their own hard rubber curves and triangles. 1870 - Moved to, and began manufacturing at 116 Fulton St. 1871 - K&E starts manufacturing in Dutch Street, New Your City. 1873 - Store established at 111 Fulton St., soon expanded to include 119 Fulton St. 1875 - Manufacturing moved to Third and Grand Streets, Hoboken, NJ. 1876 - Instruments added to sales line. Most likely these were made by Stackpole & Brother Instruments. First of the K&E Steel Tapes made. 1878 - Showroom and offices added at 127 Fulton Street and 42 Ann Street. 1880 - New factory built at Third and Adams, Hoboken, NJ. First slide rules imported. 1884 - Second factory built. Opened on January 24th 1885 1885 - First surveying instruments to be manufactured by K&E. 1891 - First slide rules using Cox's duplex construction manufactured by K&E. Chicago Branch established. 1892 - K&E added 4 more stories to their building at 127 Fulton Street making it 8 stories high. First K&E catalog in Spanish was published. 1894 - St. Louis Branch, MO. established. 1900 - San Francisco, CA. Branch established. Second and third factory buildings added. 1902 - Herman Esser retires. 1905 - Fire at Adams Street Iron Foundry destroys part of K&E factory. 1907 - New factory built at Hoboken, NJ. 1908 - Montreal, Canada Branch established. On October 1st founder William J. D. Keuffel dies. 1908 to 1942 W. G. Keuffel as president (son of the founder). 1916 - First Glass for optics made by K&E. 1918 - Young & Sons Inc. of Philadelphia, PA purchased by K&E and moved in 1922 to Hoboken, NJ. Young and Sons Department established at the end of 1922 with totally new designs of Instruments that were less expensive to produce, and serial numbers were then numbered in the K&E sequence. Young & Sons Incorporated, by Alfred C. Young March 17 1917. Alfred C. Young died May 1918. Young & Sons Incorporated, by K&E January 2 1920. Young & Sons Inc. dissolved Jan 3 1920. Somewhere in low 12,000s serial numbers markings changed from Young & Sons Inc. to Keuffel & Esser Y&S Dept., but still with old Young & Sons Inc. serial number sequence. Young & Sons Inc. is listed in Philadelphia Directories through 1921 with Max Montzne ( sp?) as manager. Young & Sons Inc. Dissolved, by K&E Dec 20 1921. 1935 - K&E Research and Testing Laboratories reorganized, centralized and enlarged. 1936 - Detroit, MI. Branch established. 1939 - Los Angeles, CA Branch established. 1941 - K&E enters wartime programs and greatly expands production. 1942 to 1946 C. M. Bernegau as president. 1944 - K&E builds copies of the Wild T-2 for the US Military. 1946 - K&E builds first 10 second optically read theodolite prototype for US Army, but not put into production, only one made and not marked. 1946 to 1951 Karl Keuffel as president. 1949 - Optical Tooling Instruments line introduced. K&E introduces P5087 Paragon 10 second Direction Theodolite which the circles are optically read. 1950 to 1961 C. W. Keuffel as president. 1956 - 1962 - New six digit model numbers are introduced replacing the 4 digit model numbers. 1958 - K&E begins major expansion of R&D in optics, electronics and chemistry. 1959 - K&E Optics and Metrology Division established. 1960 - New wing of K&E central chemistry laboratory opened. 1961 to ? A. E. Busch as president 1961 - K&E enters audio and visual field and increases photogrammetry. 1962 - The DECILON slide rule introduced. Sitemarker Instruments made by David White Corp. Labeled as K&E appear in catalog. 1965 - Corporation went public listed on NASDAQ. 1967 - New Home Office and Research Center built at Morristown NJ. Assembly of instruments and photo reproduction continues. 1967 - All instrument manufacturing began at K&E subsidiary of York Products Corp., Kennebunk, ME. Assembly was done at Morristown, NJ 1969 - Optical tooling production at Teterboro, NJ. 1974 - K&E builds optically read "Degree Theodolite" prototype for the US Army, only a small number produced. 1982 - K&E bankrupt files chapter 11 1982 - Azon buys Paper product line from K&E and ownership of all K&E Trademarks. 1982 - Kratos Corp. buys the facility at Morristown, NJ. Optical Tooling Instruments and some Surveying Instruments continued to be made for a short time. Vectron electronic theodolites produced. Kratos Corp. leases K&E name and trademarks from Azon Corp. 1986 - Cubic Precision Corp. buys Optical Tooling line from Kratos Corp. and moves all production to Teterboro, NJ. Leases K&E name and trademarks from Azon Corp. All production stops at Morristown, NJ. 1997 - Brunson Instrument Corp. buys Optical Tooling line from Cubic Precision drops all K&E trademarks and renames the company Brunson New Jersey. They move all manufacturing to Kansas City, KS. Dropping some of their line of optical tooling in favor of that as produced by Cubic Precision. Assembly of products and repairs continues at Teterboro, NJ. In April 2007 the Teterboro, NJ plant closed. Brunson's web site: http://www.brunson.us/ All K&E trademarks and name are still owned by Azon Corporation. Copyrighted a 2005 Robert Parrish, 271 Allman Hill Rd. Weaverville, NC 28787-8510