Ashton Valve company

RickA

My name is Rick Ashton and my great great grandfather,Henry G. Ashton , started the Ashton Valve company in 1872. The company was built on the popularity of his patented "pop" safety valve. I've been researching the Ashton Valve company for the last year and a half; trying to learn about the company and it's place in the history of steam. I would love to hear from anyone who might have information or pictures relating to Ashton Valve company.

RickA

Here are pictures of Ashton valves circa 1874

nicholas bonham-carter

That response was quick!!
Rick, I hope you can share the results of your investigation here when you have finished, as we love the historical side of this.—NBC

STEVEusaPA

Where you able to look up/find the patent on it?

RickA

I have made a collection of Ashton Valve patents I've found on google's patent site. The earliest dates to 1872. Here it is.

RickA

And here's an advert for the valve from an 1872 issue of "The Safety Valve" journal.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Better get it off the dining room table before you get caught.

@RickA, what years were they in business and where were they located??

RickA

Funny! It rests on the fireplace base now. Extremely heavy.

Ashton valve was started in 1871 when Henry Ashton, then working for Hinkley Locomotive Works, invented his pop safety valve. They settled in at 271 Franklin Street Boston around 1878 and remained there until they built their own plant at 161 First street in Cambridge,Ma around 1907. The building still stands today. See pic below. Sometime in the late 1940's they merged with Crosby Steam and Gage Company and moved to Wrentham,Ma , taking over the building previously owned by Winter Bros tap and die co. The valves and gages continued to be produced until the late 1980's. Some valves were still being produced in the early 90's. The patents ran out in the early 90's and someone bought the Crosby/Ashton company at that time. I'm still fuzzy about the later history of the company. I'm hoping someone will be able to help me fill in some of the details of the companies last years.

STEVEusaPA

Great stuff! Who doesn't love it?
As the thread develops with hopefully more information and with the OP's history/pictures, I would like to see an article go into the history museum section of this site.

RickA

Thank you for your encouragement. I'm planning on trying to put together a website when I get a little more organized.

RickA

Here are some photos of Ashton Valve booths at various trade shows, including the Paris exposition of 1900 where the company won a silver medal for their display.

RickA

Here's a look at a Pop safety valve circular. I'm not sure of the date on this.

RickA

I found an 1896 Ashton Valve catalog in a local library in their "catalog section". In the old catalog were these words of wisdom regarding boiler maintenance.

RickA

Here are a few more old documents and pictures from the history of Ashton Valve.

RickA

I can now trace the early addresses of the company. In 1872 the company was at 138 Pearl Street Boston with 4 total employees. They were burned out by the great Boston fire of 1872. 67 acres and 767 buildings destroyed.
Next we find them at 9 Rowes Wharf on the waterfront. From 1874-1877 the resided at 261 Purchase Street where they stayed until 1878 when they moved to 93 Federal Street. There they were burned out again by the cathedral fire.Finally in 1879 they set up in a 4 story building at 271 Franklin Street. Business was good and around 1900 they added a 5th story to try and keep up with production demands. In 1892 they purchased the Boston Steam gage company and all their stock, patents, and business. Franklin street could not support the increasing business and in 1907 they built a large foundry at 161 First Street in East Cambridge. They remained there until the late 1940's.

GBart

I may have an old gauge, not sure, will have to look when I get home.

RickA

Here's a talk I gave at the Museum of Industry and Innovation last month. It gives a brief history of the company. Also included is some information of some of the key personnel .

GBart

The gauge I have is an old Ashcroft from Bridgeport, Ct

Larry Weingarten

Hi @RickA, It's interesting how they figured out that taking good care of your employees is good for business. Nice history! Thanks for sharing it.

Yours, Larry

KC_Jones

Posted this before, but seemed appropriate to share again. This is a table in my living room that is from my Grandfather.

ratio

KC_Jones said:

Posted this before, but seemed appropriate to share again. This is a table in my living room that is from my Grandfather.

Fantastic!

Any plans to pipe a little air into it?

KC_Jones

ratio said:

Fantastic!

Any plans to pipe a little air into it?

I'm not even sure if it still works, given the needle position my expectations are low.

If I could figure out a way to get my steam boiler to power it with a few ounces of pressure I'd probably do that first....as long as it didn't cost much money.

ratio

A stepper motor and an Arduino inside the back would make it look like it works.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could rebuild the whole thing —including the Bourdon tube—in a small machine shop.

RickA

How large is the gage in the table?

KC_Jones

> @RickA said:
> How large is the gage in the table?
This big.

RickA

wow. That's some gage! What do you know about it's history?

RickA

A few more adverts from a long time ago....

RickA

Emerson buying out Crosby is as far as I could get. I've emailed Emerson a couple of times but have yet to received a response. Emerson has a page of Crosby gauges. Thanks, JIm, for your input. Appreciated.

RickA

Hello Gang! Since we last talked I've been able to pick up a few interesting Ashton Valve products. Check them out.

RickA

Any guesses as to what the first few might be?

RickA

I also found out some info on what happened to the company in the 1940's and why they merged with Crosby in the late 40's.
Take a look at these letters and the bit of info I found on the Government's program for manufacturing during the war. fascinating stuff. And Crosby did merge with Ashton Valve around that time and when the building was purchased by a industrial adhesive manufacturer after the war Crosby/Ashton did move to Wrentham, Ma.

Solid_Fuel_Man

Not sure about the first picture, but the second one with the hand pump looks to be a test rig for a "pop valve" I'd guess.....

That chart recorder is really cool! I assume the chart is electrically powered?

The last one I'd guess is a safety gauge where a contact changes state when the pressure reaches a certain level.

RickA

The first picture is of a Mullens Paper Tester which was how paper was tested for bursting strength. The Ashton Gauge would show the amount of pressure needed to burst paper. Modern versions of this machine are still made today by the same company,
https://www.mullentesters.com/testers.html

The second picture is a test gauge for a vacuum gauge. It is missing the mercury column that would have come with it to test the working gauge.

The third gauge is a pressure recording gauge that actually works off an 8 day clock works. Ashton Valve made marine clocks also. It came with a years supply of recording paper.

The fourth gauge was a standard test gauge that comes in a nice box with the fitting you might need. It was always calibrated perfectly so it could be used to test the working gauges for accuracy.

Last is the Ideal alarm gauge, which came with a unique feature of being electrically hooked up to a bell that would ring out if the pressure went above or below the pre set limits.

Thank you for taking the time to read the post!

RickA

The Railroad industry was a mainstay for the company. Here are a few catalog pages of locomotive products from a late 1920's catalog.

RickA

Their products were built to last and almost everything could be repaired. Here are a few examples of parts lists for valves and gauges.

RickA

Time to meet a few of the people that were responsible for the company's success.

RickA

In 1892 the company bought out the Boston Steam Gauge Co. Here is the letter they mailed to all their existing customers announcing that Ashton Valve was now in the gauge producing business.

RickA

Steam whistles were used on locomotives, ships, and buildings. Here is what the company offered.

RickA

Some drawings of the whistles. And one I own.

RickA

Here's a price list from 1897 that was sent to a potential customer.

RickA

The Ashton Valve building built in 1907 had many features new to factories of those times. Here are blueprints and some articles about the building. The building is still standing today and is currently be renovated for office space.