HISTORY

From C. A. Dunham Company to MEPCO

Three names, one continuous line of steam and hydronic products. The company that perfected the thermostatic trap in 1903 builds pumps and steam specialties today in Grand Rapids — under the MEPCO name, with the same foundry roots.

C. A. Dunham Company radiator trap trade card
FROM THE ARCHIVE — C. A. DUNHAM CO. RADIATOR TRAP TRADE CARD
C. A. Dunham Company advertisement for the Dunham Vapor Heating System
DUNHAM VAPOR HEATING SYSTEM — MAGAZINE ADVERTISEMENT
  1. 1894

    C. A. Dunham Company

    Clayton A. Dunham founds the company in Marshalltown, Iowa — the "Marshall" that survives in MEPCO's name — building radiator traps and the Dunham Vapor Heating System advertised in the archive pieces above.

  2. 1903

    The first thermostatic trap

    The company perfects the thermostatic steam trap, the origin of what is now the industry's oldest continuous line of designs.

  3. 1910s

    The Dunham Vapor Heating System

    Dunham packages trap, valve and vacuum pump into a complete low-pressure system, sold nationally through advertising like the pieces above — the start of the company as a systems house rather than a fittings maker.

  4. 1923

    Research department founded

    The company hires Purdue's top engineering graduate, David Nelson Crosthwait Jr., as director of research. His team's work on vacuum pumps, boiler feed and temperature control produces the Dunham Differential Vacuum Heating System and the heating plant for Radio City Music Hall (1932).

  5. 1950

    Dunham-Bush

    C. A. Dunham merges with Bush Manufacturing of Hartford, Connecticut. The combined company sells heating, air conditioning and refrigeration; the steam specialty and pump lines continue under the Dunham-Bush name for four decades.

  6. 1950s

    Steam to hydronics

    As central heating shifts toward hot and chilled water, the engineering staff turns to pump and hydronic specialty design. The brass foundry begins pouring pump impellers.

  7. 1990s

    MEPCO is formed

    The steam specialty and pump business is carried forward as Marshall Engineered Products Company — MEPCO — an independent manufacturer with the Dunham designs, tooling and patterns. Model cross-references to Dunham-Bush numbers are still honored today.

  8. 2000s

    Grand Rapids, Michigan

    Engineering, brass foundry and assembly consolidate on 44th Street SE. MEP-FLOW selection software, the RC and RB pump families and the MEP-Pro trap line are introduced.

  9. Today

    Factory direct since 1903

    More than eight million products installed in schools, hospitals, government and process facilities worldwide — still engineered and manufactured on 44th Street, sold through independent representatives in every state.