Company History
Harsco's predecessor companies built some of the country's first refrigerated railway cars and other rolling stock for the American railroads. Our skill at pipe bending and coil-making helped open the way to modern refrigeration and cooling. With the dawn of the 20th century, we established ourselves as an internationally-recognized leader in the production of high-pressure gas storage vessels, producing America’s first seamless gas cylinders. With our subsequent involvement in a broader range of high-quality specialty steel products and industrial forgings, we became the Harrisburg Steel Corporation in 1935.
Harsco companies have been pioneers in a number of industry-leading achievements. The modern scaffolding industry owes its very existence to the innovation and achievement of our Harsco Access Services group. In 1920, our SGB division was responsible for the development and introduction of tubular steel scaffolding, a complete step change in an industry which had been based largely upon timber. Our Excell Minerals and Reed Minerals divisions both represent leading-edge innovators for the responsible recycling of industrial co-products for beneficial re-use. Our MultiServ mill services division remains at the forefront of the global steel industry for its service and technology solutions for waste minimization, dust control and other key environmental issues.
Harsco Corporation was formed in 1956, reflecting the company's diversification into additional product classes and markets. Since the 1990s, we have sharply accelerated our strategic expansion through a combination of internal growth and targeted acquisitions that have transformed Harsco into a modern, worldwide industrial services organization serving major customers on a global scale.
