Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company

The charter was signed in February 1902 for a shop capitalized at $30,000, with Joseph Kurth as first president and Frank Kavanaugh Sr. as vice president and first general manager. An engineer from Allis-Chalmers in Milwaukee, W. C. Trout, joined in 1905 as secretary and became general manager in 1906. His patents on sawmill equipment turned a repair shop into a manufacturer, and sales passed $210,000 by 1910. Marine gears came in the early 1950s. In 1970 the name changed to Lufkin Industries, because customers buying trailers and gears found Foundry confusing.

What the plaque says

Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company Chartered in 1902 as a repair shop and parts supply house for local sawmills, Lufkin Foundry & Machine Company was begun by J. H. Kurth, Frank Kavanaugh, Sr., Frank Kavanaugh, Jr., Eli Wiener and Simon Henderson. Later, under the leadership of W. C. Trout, the company ventured into the oil industry and manufactured the first enclosed geared pumping unit. In 1926, Trout patented a counterbalanced crank that improved the pumping unit and made a name for the company worldwide. In 1939 the company added industrial gears and truck trailers to its product lines. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 31 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• W.C. Trout and the Counter-Balanced Pumping Unit — steps away
• KRBA-AM Radio Station — 0.5 mi
• Lufkin Daily News — 0.5 mi
• Site of Rehearsal Hall for The Hoo Hoo Band — 0.5 mi