The last century has seen many changes for Boardman, prompted by the needs of our customers in leading industries. But a few things haven’t changed, including our commitment to quality and the stewardship we provide to every customer, for every project. Walk through our history with us to see how we’ve managed to secure our reputation as a fabrication engineering leader in Oklahoma City and beyond.
Boardman first opened its doors in 1910 in Oklahoma City as a tank and equipment manufacturer with three employees serving the agriculture industry. We fabricated water well casings and buckets, hog feeders, stock water tanks, and other light galvanized sheet metal products.
Later, we expanded into fans, cotton-seed ginning, oil-mill equipment, gasoline storage tanks, grease racks, smokestacks and breechings, culverts, oil-field equipment, and truck and trailer tanks.
The company grew quickly, thanks to the steadfast leadership, tenacity, and unrelenting optimism of founder John R. Boardman. He created a culture of innovation that contributed to every fabrication engineering expansion.
By 1926, we diversified into bridge building, making us the largest Oklahoma-based bridge builder. Continued diversification happened through 1929, when we built the first Boardman fire truck for the City of Duncan, OK. In 20 years’ time, fire trucks had become a standard Boardman product.
By 1940, Boardman began manufacturing pressure vessels and we’ve held our ASME code stamp since 1948. By 1996, the final Boardman fire truck had left our facility.
Today, we manufacture ASME pressure vessels, trayed towers and columns, custom-fabricated equipment including heavy plate fabrication, and offer field services at your site.
It’s been well over a century, but we’re still bringing our founder’s concepts of innovation and stewardship to our customers—and we’ll do the same for you.
Our vision is to “become the most respected and sought-after custom fabricator in the United States.” That’s rather ambitious, we know, but we also know we have the best people, culture, values and leadership to make it happen. By exercising the same values that contributed to our early success—integrity, teamwork, safety, and commitment—every day, we believe we will see the achievement of that goal.
Boardman is built on a strong foundation, with Mr. Boardman’s enduring legacy. Those are big shoes to fill, but every day we work hard to take innovative steps that would make him proud.