For almost two centuries, Mitchell Lewis & Staver has built upon dozens of entrepreneurial successes and audacious experiments to become a leading innovator of integrated solutions and a company that’s always been committed to helping customers conserve energy and natural resources.
From wagons to water systems, from plows to pumps, the common thread has been focusing on the customer and providing the very best, most efficient product to meet their needs.
In the tradition of passing on cross-generational values, Mitchell Lewis & Staver continues to cultivate an approach to the market where quality, knowledge, service and support are the strong underpinnings of great customer relations.
24-year-old Henry Mitchell and his wife emigrate from Scotland and settle in Chicago. Later that year they welcome a son, William Henry Mitchell. Henry forms Mitchell Wagon Works and later moves the company to Racine, Wisconsin.
William Lewis marries Mary Mitchell, one of Henry’s three daughters and offers his new son-in-law a piece of the business for $5,000. The offer was accepted, and the company was renamed Mitchell & Lewis Co.
In 1880, the Mitchell & Lewis Co. plant in Wisconsin burns to the ground. Henry Mitchell immediately set his sights on the west coast, determined to build a bigger and more technologically-advanced manufacturing facility. Two years later his son, William Henry Mitchell, opens the doors of Mitchell & Lewis Co. in Portland at 148 Front Street, specializing in agricultural farm implements and vehicles.
After the death of his business partner, George Staver merges Staver & Walker – a producer of wagons, carriages and other farm and dairy implements – with Mitchell & Lewis Co. in Portland, Oregon under the name Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Co.
The Mitchell Motor Company is born, becoming one of the first American manufacturers of the modern gasoline-powered automobile. By 1908, the company was manufacturing over 2,000 cars a year in five styles and employed 1,600 people. Eight years later, the companies of Mitchell, Lewis & Staver Co. and Mitchell Motor Company are consolidated to form Mitchell Lewis Motor Co.
After the instability of WWII, in which the company faced a shortage of merchandise due to the rationing of raw materials and a great reduction in workforce, Mitchell Lewis Motor Co. is dissolved and a new entity is born – Mitchell Lewis & Staver, focusing on agricultural equipment and accessories featuring the Myers line of water systems.
The company hires a recent graduate of the University of Oregon, Hugh Brown, who quickly gains the attention of those in leadership through his tenacity in pump and irrigation sales. While still largely an implement wholesaler, a shift toward industrial pumps and manufacturing their own sprayer with an innovative fiberglass tank soon proves to be a lucrative and substantial part of the business.
The board elects Hugh Brown as president and general manager of the company. Four years later, Bill Newton, the great-great grandson of Henry Mitchell, resigns and takes with him the 150-year legacy of the Mitchell family. Hugh eventually moves the company out of Portland and into its current location in Wilsonville, Oregon. With the move to Wilsonville, Hugh’s son, David Brown, steps into the decision-making process, succeeding his father at the helm.
The company enters into a partnership with Sta-Rite, a leading manufacturer of water systems products. Later that year, the board unanimously elects David Brown as president and, under his management, the company begins offering packaged systems to customers, including lift stations, booster stations and custom controls.
Mitchell Lewis & Staver partners with Goulds Water Technology and later Pentair to distribute pumps in California allowing the company to open locations near Visalia, Orange and Chico.
MLS acquires Reed Supply in Arizona and expands coverage to all states west of the Rocky Mountains.
Mitchell Lewis & Staver expands east of the Rockies to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
Mitchell Lewis & Staver announces authorization for distribution of Goulds Water Technology (GWT) products in the state of Arizona. The expansion of this product line in Mitchell’s Phoenix branch is a complement to their company-wide expertise in GWT equipment, having proudly supported Goulds products across their other fifteen locations for over 24 years.