Historical Timeline
Corporate Lineage • 1851 to Present
Evolution of the Company Name
Tracing the corporate identity of the Taylor instrument legacy across seventeen decades of manufacturing, scientific innovation, and global expansion.
Kendall & Taylor
1851 – 1853
Founded in Rochester by David Kendall and George Taylor with an initial investment of $919. Produced tin-case thermometers and mercurial barometers. Partnership ended with Kendall’s departure in 1853.
George Taylor (Sole Ownership)
1853 – 1859
Operated as an independent business by George Taylor following Kendall's departure. Taylor peddled thermometers to rural general stores and expanded production, eventually moving the workshop to 11 Hill Street.
Taylor & Richardson
1866 – 1872
Formed in 1866 by George’s brother, Frank Taylor (who had arrived in Rochester in 1862), and Hamlet Richardson. Richardson eventually withdrew due to failing health and sold his ownership interest back to George Taylor, paving the way for brotherly partnership.
Taylor Brothers
1872 – 1890
With Richardson’s departure, George Taylor and Frank Taylor formally established Taylor Brothers. Period of rapid expansion in dairy, clinical, and industrial thermometers, introducing patented etched-stem glass designs.
Taylor Brothers Company
1890 – 1907
Formally incorporated in New York State. Began strategic acquisitions of key competitors (including Hohmann & Maurer and Short & Mason of London), laying the groundwork for heavy industrial process instrumentation.
Taylor Instrument Companies
1907 – 1968
The Definitive Era. Construction and major expansions at 95 Ames Street. Unified consumer and industrial lines under the iconic Tycos trademark, supplied vital aviation and naval instruments during WWI and WWII (awarded the Army-Navy “E” in 1942), and celebrated the Centennial in 1951.
Taylor Instrument Company (Sybron)
1968 – 1989
Merged into the Sybron Corporation as its premier instrument and control systems subsidiary. Transitioned from analog pneumatic controls to electronic and early microprocessor process automation (MOD systems).
Taylor Instruments Division
1989 – 1990
Acquired by Combustion Engineering (C-E) during corporate consolidation in the energy and industrial systems sector, operating as a specialized process automation division.
ABB Kent-Taylor Inc.
1990 – 1996
Global engineering giant Asea Brown Boveri (ABB) acquired Combustion Engineering. Combined Taylor’s Rochester product line with Britain’s George Kent group to form ABB Kent-Taylor.
ABB Instrumentation Inc.
1996 – Present
Fully integrated into ABB’s Measurement & Analytics division. While manufacturing eventually transitioned away from Ames Street, the Taylor instrument designs, patents, and engineering legacy remain active across global industrial facilities today.
