Eight Companies Celebrate 145 Years in 2020 - Four are 5th Generation

145th anniversary may not seem like a major milestone, but think about what it takes for a company that began in 1875 to survive to 2020. These eight companies did it:

Anderson's Bookshops, Naperville IL, 5th generation (started as a pharmacy that also sold books, now three bookstores)

Chauvin Brothers, Chauvin LA, 5th generation (lumber and building materials)

Columbus McKinnon, Getzville NY, public (global equipment manufacturer)

Daniel Orr Sons Hardware, North Branch MI, 5th generation (retail hardware store)

Keep & Martinson Lumber, Tekonsha MI (lumber & building materials)

Normandin, San Jose CA, 5th generation (retail automotive)

Prudential, Newark NJ, public (global insurance & investments)

Schnipper, Britton & Stobaugh, Hot Springs AR (law firm)

150th Anniversary Celebrations for These Companies

The year was 1870. The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, giving black males the right to vote, became law. And of the many companies getting started as the United States was recovering from the Civil War, these 13 have survived to celebrate their 150th anniversaries in 2020. Eight are generational family companies; two are public. Five provide food or beverage products; four are in manufacturing; there's a bank, a bus line, a real estate investment firm, and a specialty construction firm (ironwork and masonry).

Androscoggin Bank, Lewiston ME

Brown-Forman, Louisville KY

Case's Pork Roll, Trenton NJ

Challenge Machinery, Norton Shores MI

Clark & Wilkins, Larchmont NY

DeCamp Bus Lines, Montclair NJ

Graeter's, Cincinnati OH

Kissling Interests, New York City NY

Pendery's, Dallas TX

Star of the West Milling, Frankenmuth MI

Tennant, Minneapolis MN

White's Marble Works, Sweetwater TN

Woodward Hexcel, Fort Collins CO