J.T. Thorpe & Son, Inc.

This building at 1351 Ocean Avenue on the corner of Doyle Street was built for the J. T. Thorpe & Son Company in 1945.

J. T. Thorpe & Son was established in 1906 by John T. Thorpe and his son John Leon Thorpe in the wake of the Great Quake when San Francisco lay in rubble.

Members of the J. T. Thorpe family worked in brick and masonry and they quickly formed a company around helping rebuild San Francisco.

Photo: J T Thorpe

Initially, the J. T. Thorpe company manufactured bricks specializing in boiler, still and furnace brickwork. By 1908, the company also built and installed large metallurgical and industrial furnaces.

Their first large scale industrial furnace was installed in 1908 at the Standard Oil plant in Richmond. They also built refractory installations at new refineries in Benicia and Martinez.

By 1917, J. T. Thorpe had an office at 525 Market Street in San Francisco.

Beginning in the 1930s, J. T. Thorpe began supplying shipyards with refractory materials and products.

John T. Thorpe died around 1923. There are surprisingly few news records of his death.

The Oakland Post Enquirer - Jan. 23, 1923 - Pg. 19

By 1937, their headquarters were listed at 941 16th St. in San Francisco.

John L. Thorpe died in 1939 at the age of 59. Following his death, news archives indicate the company restructured amid these Great Depression years.

World War II provided a boost to the company as it did with much of the manufacturing sector. During this time, J.T. Thorpe produced refractory bricks that were installed in the boiler rooms of war ships.

Emeryville / Golden Gate Herald - Nov 12, 1937 - Pg. 3

In December 1945, J. T. Thorpe & Son bought a 30,000 square foot lot in Emeryville here at Ocean Avenue and Doyle Street. The company built a warehouse at 1351 Ocean Ave at the cost of $30,000.

They later expanded by constructing a second building across the street at 1352 Ocean Avenue.

Photo: J T Thorpe

The J. T. Thorpe company expanded its operations over the years producing scaffolding insulation, and coatings services. They were also involved in foundation, bridge, highway and civil engineering construction.

They continued their focus on power plants and refineries construction in the greater bay area.

Photo: J T Thorpe

By 1987, their Emeryville headquarters was slated for renovation but it’s unclear this ever happened and they sold the building to HFH Limited for $843,000.

By 1988, JT Thorpe moved their Northern California Corporate headquarters to Richmond to better accommodate local refineries. At that time, about 75 percent of their business was from maintenance in this industry.

An original sign from their Emeryville location is hung in their Richmond office acknowledging their history here in Emeryville.

Photo: J T Thorpe

Now known simply as J T Thorpe, they have facilities across the U.S. and are involved in several industries ranging from Mining and Steel to paper and Petrochemical.

While primarily a contracting & engineering entity today, J T Thorpe remains the largest and oldest refractory company in the United States and employ more bricklayers than any company in the U.S.