On October 27, TB Wood's Inc., Chambersburg, Pa., celebrated its 150th birthday. Founded in 1857, TB Wood's Inc. designs and manufactures electronic and mechanical power transmission equipment for industrial control. The company was launched when master mechanic T.B. Wood and his partner Peter Housum, a millwright designer and machinery builder, bought Franklin Foundry & Machine Shop. They initially produced wood-burning stoves and “mill gearing.”
Franklin Foundry ironworks played a major role in the rebuilding of Chambersburg after the Civil War. Col. Housum died during the war, but T.B. Wood acquired the entire business and continued to expand it. Upon his death, two of his sons took over, renaming the company T.B. Wood's Sons. Today TB Wood's Inc. is owned by Altra Industrial Motion, Quincy, Mass. For more information, visit www.tbwoods.com.
