Tyler, Texas, home of Tyler Pipe Company, was once an agricultural community. While agriculture still is important, industrial development now contributes much to the city and its progress. Part of this development has come from Tyler Pipe, whose predecessor company was organized, in mid-depression 1935.
From the beginning, Tyler Pipe faced formidable obstacles and handicaps; the physical location of the company is far from an established industrial center; the soil pipe industry is highly competitive; the foundry is far removed from economical sources of iron; and in its early day, Tyler Pipe was a "short-line outfit," with too few patterns in too few sizes.
Tyler Pipe solved these problems creatively. From its inception, the company has been a growth operation. One of the strongest development factors was management's alertness to the needs of buyers and users…the plumbers. From the start, the company geared itself to serve the plumber through conventional distribution channels.
An even stronger influence in Tyler Pipe's growth was awareness of industry changes and the ability to adapt from manual to mechanized production. The first mechanized pipe machine, which duplicated manual production sequences, produced enough five-foot pipe to span the earth…. four times.
To provide a dependable source of good quality pig iron, the company pioneered development of the basic water-cooled cupola, in association with the Ford Motor Company. Tyler Pipe designed and developed machines to make the nations first 10-foot cast iron soil pipe, and introduced Pipe fittings with plain-end spigots. This last innovation, plain-end spigots, led to Tyler Pipe's most significant achievement, the TY-SEAL compression gasket.
While setting new standards for quality in joining systems, TY-SEAL has virtually eliminated the use of molten lead joints…. an industry standard for about 600 years. Currently Tyler Pipe has foundries in Texas and Pennsylvania, and coupling/gasket production facilities in Missouri and California.
Tyler Pipe is owned by McWane Inc., a private company located in Birmingham Alabama.
