LUFKIN Industries history

A key hire for Lufkin in the early years was Walter Charles "W.C." Trout, who replaced Wiener as secretary in 1905.

In 1906 he succeeded Kavanaugh as general manager of the company, and because of the patents he brought, the company graduated from the repair of locomotives and sawmill equipment to the manufacture of sawmill equipment.

By 1910 the company was generating more than $210,000 in sales.

Lufkin began servicing this rising industry in 1918 when it first offered refinery equipment.

The company expanded soon after by pioneering oilfield pumping units in the 1920s.

Back at the shop his people began working to turn his sketches into a viable machine, and in September 1925 a unit was put into a Humble well for a trial.

The company was forced to shut down its plant in 1932 as it sold off inventory.

Fortunately Lufkin had no debt and by 1934 was ready to expand again, opening a sales office in Dallas.

A Lufkin unit also would hold the distinction of receiving the only stateside damage during World War II. In 1942 a Japanese submarine attempted to destroy the Ellwood oil field along California's coast, firing a pair of torpedoes.

By 1950 Lufkin tallied sales of nearly $13.7 million from its three divisions: Machinery, Trailer, and Mill Supplies.

In 1954 the company instituted its first pension plan.

Not only was business in a slump, due in large part to a price war between pumping unit manufacturers, but Lufkin also had to contend with a February 1961 fire that destroyed its main office.

In 1970, Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company changed its name to Lufkin Industries, Inc., to better reflect its wide-ranging and world-wide product lines that included trailers, industrial gears, oilfield equipment, and pumping units.

In 1974, when Lufkin sales first reached the $100 million mark and the company celebrated its 50th year in the pumping unit business, 70 percent of that amount came from the Machinery Division that manufactured the famous pumpjacks.

Construction of a $20 million large-castings foundry began in 1982.

1994 The industrial supplies unit is sold.

The year 1997 also saw Lufkin completing a pair of acquisitions that increased Lufkin's oil field service offerings: Fannie Lee Mitchell of Texas, Inc. and Nabla Corporation.

In 2013, Lufkin Industries was acquired by General Electric.