Vaughan & Bushnell Manufacturing, also known as Vaughan Manufacturing and branded as simply Vaughan, is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 manufacturing company that specializes in the production of hammer

Hammer

A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, forging metal and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and vary widely in their shape and structure. The usual features are a handle and a head,...

s, axes, prybars, and hand saw

Hand saw

In woodworking and carpentry, hand saws, also known as "panel saws", "fish saws", are used to cut pieces of wood into different shapes. This is usually done in order to join the pieces together and create a wooden object. They usually operate by having a series of sharp points of some substance...

s. The company produces more than 250 different kinds of hammers.

History

Vaughan was founded in 1869 in Peoria, Illinois

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

 by Alexander Vaughan, an 18-year-old blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

, as a plumbing

Plumbing

Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...

 business. Vaughan soon set up a blacksmith shop behind a hardware store in Chicago owned by Sidney Bushnell. On June 15, 1869, Vaughan was granted a patent for an improved post auger

Auger

An auger is a drilling device, or drill bit, that usually includes a rotating helical screw blade called a "flighting" to act as a screw conveyor to remove the drilled out material...

 and began producing custom tools.

In 1871, much of the company was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire

Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S...

, and Bushnell invested additional funds for the company, which was incorporated in 1882 as the Vaughan and Bushnell Manufacturing Company. The company began shifting its focus to hammers, hatchets, axes, and wrecking bars.

In 1922, the Bushnell family's interests in the company were bought out by the Vaughan family. In 1963, company's headquarters were relocated to Hebron, Illinois

Hebron, Illinois

Hebron is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census the village population was 1,216, up from 1,038 at the 2000 census....

. In 1993, the company became the first striking tool manufacturer to receive ISO 9002 certification.