Lapham-Hickey Steel History copy
The Lapham-Hickey Steel heritage dates back to 1926 when four partners; Frank Hickey, Edward and Burnham Lapham (brothers) and George Clifford, purchased the Chicago mill depot of the Fitzsimmons Cold Drawn Bar Company of Youngstown, Ohio.
The four partners each brought their own knowledge and expertise: Frank Hickey brought his experience working at the Wisconsin Steel Division of International Harvester with a background in bar products.
The Lapham brothers; employed by the Edgar T. Ward Company in Chicago, brought a real understanding of the flat rolled business. The final piece of the puzzle was George Clifford, who provided additional investment capital needed to acquire the Fitzsimmons Bar Chicago depot.
It didn’t take long for the four partners to see the opportunities in diversifying from just distribution of steel into the processing of the steel.
