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.