Keuffel and Esser
1867-1982

Wilhelm Johann Diedrich Keuffel and Herman Esser were partners in the firm of Keuffel & Esser (K&E) which was founded in July 1867 at 79 Nassau St. Manhattan. They were two German immigrants, who were importers and jobbers of drawing materials and mathematical and surveying instruments. Keuffel (1838-1908), born in Walbeck (Rhineland, Germany) and was employed in the hardware business in Germany and Birmingham, England, prior to his immigration to Hoboken, NJ, in 1866. The next year he joined with Herman Esser (1845-1908) who was originally from Wuppertal-Elbertfeld. Wilhelm J. D. Keuffel died in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1908. Herman Esser retired from Keuffel & Esser Co. in 1902. He was back in Bad Godesberg (near Bonn, Rhine River, Germany) in April of 1902 and died there in April 1908.

In 1875, the firm was incorporated as Keuffel & Esser Company (also known as K & E) and moved from Manhattan to Third and Grand Street in Hoboken, New Jersey. A four-story factory in Hoboken, New Jersey was completed in 1880. In 1892, the company commissioned a building for their showroom and offices at 127 Fulton Street in Manhattan from the architecture firm of De Lomos & Cordes, who designed a 8-story brick and terra cotta building in the Renaissance Revival style. The building was completed in 1893, and the company occupied it until 1961. It was designated a New York City landmark in 2005. In the first decade of the 20th century, Keuffel and Esser introduced another, new line of surveying instruments based on the work of John Paoli, an Italian immigrant in Hoboken. A new Keuffel and Esser Manufacturing Complex was built in 1906.

In the coming decades, Keuffel & Esser began to expand, opening showrooms, offices and new factories in New York, New Jersey, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco, Detroit, and Montreal. They first manufactured surveying instruments in 1876 and introduced an innovative new line of surveying equipment in the 1890s. The company's first product was hard rubber curves and triangles. Later products included drafting paper, surveying instruments, and drafting aids such as slide rules. Keuffel & Esser held patents for a wide range of slide rule features, including improved cursor indicators, functions and scales, and the adjustable body mechanism.

The company was so successful that in 1965 it went public on NASDAQ. However, in the coming years, rapid changes in technology including the development of calculators, CAD systems and laser surveying systems, had a detrimental effect on Keuffel & Esser, which shrank drastically after 1972. In 1982 Keuffel & Esser filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and eventually was bought out by several companies including Cubic Precision (acquired in 1997 by BRUNSON) or Azon Corporation. Currently, Azon Corporation owns the Keuffel & Esser name and trademarks.



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/