From a bank set up by one of America’s Founding Fathers to a candy company still owned by its founder’s grandchildren to the owners of every stagecoach in a cowboy film ever, the oldest businesses across the USA certainly have plenty of stories to tell.
OnDeck has created a list of the longest-lasting companies from each of America’s 89 biggest cities, with the oldest of them dating way back to the 18th Century. The Rowland Co in Philadelphia takes the crown because it was founded in 1732 to produce shovels and springs. 289 years later, it is still going strong distributing industrial power transmission products.
It’s the third oldest active company in the USA and one of four on this list to have been founded before 1800. Another of those is Bank of New York Mellon, which was founded (without the Mellon) in 1784 by Alex Hamilton, a Founding Father.
Another big name business on the list is Wells Fargo, founded in Sacramento in 1854 by two of the founders of American Express to capitalize on the gold rush in California. Its stagecoaches were legendary in the old West and today it has operations in 35 countries with over 70 million customers globally.
Some of the oldest businesses are on a smaller scale though, like Chesapeake’s H.E. Williams Candy Company was founded in 1919 and the elderly grandchildren of the original owners are still running it today and keeping to its traditional methods. Why not find out some more stories from America’s oldest businesses and see which is the oldest in your city?
The Oldest Businesses in 89 U.S. Cities, courtesy of OnDeck
