It was 1895 and the Industrial Revolution was well underway, rocketing the speed of manufacturing and life in countless American towns. It was a time of incredible innovation fueled by the intellect, grit, and determination of leaders such as ours … Harry M. Riddle.
Born in the sleepy town of Asbury, New Jersey, our founder’s work ethic was evident early. He rose each day to chores on the family farm, followed by a five-mile hike to a job at the general store. By the age of 24, he owned interest in that merchant operation, and another in a village nearby. Now a laborer, postmaster, and entrepreneur, he listened intently for opportunity, and after a friend described the vast applications of graphite and its untapped industrial potential, an American enterprise was born.
Subject ID: 102527
MoreIt was 1895 and the Industrial Revolution was well underway, rocketing the speed of manufacturing and life in countless American towns. It was a time of incredible innovation fueled by the intellect, grit, and determination of leaders such as ours … Harry M. Riddle.
Born in the sleepy town of Asbury, New Jersey, our founder’s work ethic was evident early. He rose each day to chores on the family farm, followed by a five-mile hike to a job at the general store. By the age of 24, he owned interest in that merchant operation, and another in a village nearby. Now a laborer, postmaster, and entrepreneur, he listened intently for opportunity, and after a friend described the vast applications of graphite and its untapped industrial potential, an American enterprise was born.
The young Riddle began his venture by leasing a relative’s Asbury flour mill in 1895. The aging 1700s facility was reconstructed three decades prior and with the swift flow of the Musconetcong River, proved an ample source of power. Next, he hired his first technical expert – a miller – to help transform the operation to graphite refining, sourced, in part, from a small Rhode Island mine. Industrious and energetic, Riddle networked to find New York City brokers to secure global resources, and began importing raw graphite materials from Korea and Ceylon. His supply chain linked nearby New Jersey rails, where barrels of the raw materials were offloaded to make their final miles by horse and buggy to Riddle’s emerging company, Asbury Graphite Mills.
In 1960, the company acquired Cummings-Moore Graphite Company based in Detroit, providing a Midwest base of operations, as well as Grafitera de Sonora, a Mexican mine. The following year, the company launched Asbury Graphite, Inc., a joint venture in Oakland, California, and soon after, bought the Charles Pettinos Graphite Company, established in 1891, it was located some 30 miles west in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Although a smaller plant, Pettinos proved to be a perfect place to complete specialty runs for customers, keeping with another principle of Asbury’s growing business and new vision for the company: meet customers’ need for more complex carbonaceous material while adding other carbon products and a more sophisticated graphite blend.
Subject ID: 102527
Subject ID: 102527