History

The Buffalo Forge Company was formed in 1878 to manufacture blacksmith’s forges

Forges

-In France:*Forges, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department*Forges, Maine-et-Loire, in the Maine-et-Loire department*Forges, Orne, in the Orne department*Forges, Seine-et-Marne, in the Seine-et-Marne department*Forgès, in the Corrèze department...

. Their product offerings were expanded to include drilling machines in 1883, and steam engines and pumps in 1889. In 1902, Willis Carrier

Willis Carrier

Willis Haviland Carrier was an American engineer and inventor, and is known as the man who invented modern air conditioning....

 an engineer at Buffalo Forge, submitted drawings for what became recognized as the world's first modern air conditioning

Air conditioning

An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...

 system. In 1915, he left the company to form Carrier Engineering Corporation

Carrier Corporation

The Carrier Corporation is one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, and a global leader in the commercial refrigeration and food service equipment industry...

.
Heating equipment, dust collectors, and a range of metal cutting and forming equipment were also manufactured by the company. In addition to being one of the largest employers in the city of Buffalo (during its heyday), Buffalo Forge operated several other plants in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. The Wendt family retained ownership of the company until 1941, when the ownership was broadened by a public stock offering. Buffalo Forge was one of the "big three" that made blacksmith equipment in the United States. Champion and Canedy-Otto companies were the other domestic competition.

Mergers, acquisitions & significant events

1900	Buffalo Forge was incorporated with a capitalization of $500,000.
1902	Geo. L. Squier Manufacturing Company of Buffalo was purchased, opening the company up to a South and Central America market.
1941	It was decided that the company would be best served if the stock was offered on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010... . A reorganization was made at that time so that The Squier Corporation, Buffalo Pumps, Inc., and the Canadian Companies became wholly owned subsidiaries of Buffalo Forge Company.
1993	Buffalo Forge was acquired by the Howden Group.
1997	Buffalo Machine Tools of Lockport, New York was created from the machine tool division of Buffalo Forge.
1999	The Howden subsidiary containing the remainder of Buffalo Forge was renamed Howden Buffalo.
2006	The company's 14-acre original manufacturing plant located at 490 Broadway St. in Buffalo was razed. This included the six story "Building 3" at 470-474 Broadway St. which was the final building to be destroyed.
2010	The Howden subsidiary containing the remainder of Buffalo Forge was renamed Howden North America Inc..