National Gypsum history

The National Gypsum name – through its Gold Bond®, ProForm®, and PermaBASE® product lines – has been synonymous with high-quality, innovative products and exceptional customer service since 1925.

In 1927, the young company established a new plant in Iosco County, Michigan.

National Gypsum also managed to survive the Great Depression, largely because Baker struck a deal to become the sole supplier of wallboard to the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago, the only significant building project in the country in 1932.

In 1934, the company acquired a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel that made metal lath, used to support wallboard, establishing a policy of developing new products and acquiring companies that were in the gypsum business or made products that could be used in the business.

In 1935, National Gypsum acquired its adversary Universal Gypsum in a stock swap.

In 1937, National raised $1.5 million to build a factory in Alabama, where it could take advantage of a new process to convert waste pine into insulation board.

National Gypsum's sales reached $24 million in 1940.

In 1951, National Gypsum acquired National Mortar and Supply Company and built a paper mill as well as a wallboard and plaster plant.

In 1954, National Gypsum purchased Abestone Corporation and an asbestos cement plant in Millington, New Jersey.

Following a year of negotiations, National Gypsum acquired Huron Portland Cement Company in 1960 in exchange for more than one million shares of stock.

In 1964, National Gypsum entered into a joint venture with the French company Lafarge Cement and Victor Hosp of England's Clark and Fenn to establish a wallboard plant in Carpentras, France.

Although the company paid $19 million to settle in 1973, the civil suit led to a United States Department of Justice investigation into pricing practices in the gypsum industry.

In 1975, National Gypsum celebrated its fiftieth anniversary.

In January 1984, attempting to make itself less attractive to raiders, National Gypsum purchased The Austin Company--a family-owned design, engineering, and construction firm, whose business cycles differed from the residential building business--for 789,000 of its common shares.

In November 1985, Aancor Holdings, Inc., a management-led investors group, offered to purchase all National Gypsum shares for a combination of cash and debentures.

In one 1987 settlement, the company paid $8.4 million to school districts across 19 states for damages caused by its asbestos products.

In October 1990, 69-year-old John Hayes retired as CEO of National Gypsum and Aancor Holdings, Inc.

In October 1993, chairperson and CEO Peter Browning resigned.

In 1994, Stephen Humphrey, formerly of Rockwell International Corporation, became the president and chief executive officer of National Gypsum.

By 1997, the trust was running out of funds to compensate future claims.