About Us

Our History

The J. L. Houston Co. was founded by the late John L. Houston in 1954. Prior to this John would work as the automotive parts manager for the Mutti Motor Company in Hopkins. During this time, he started his own side business as a jobber for copper pipe, brass fittings, and tire chains. After 1949 John would use the former Royal Theatre Building to store his merchandise. He would later build a warehouse building just south of Barnard Street and adjacent to the rail road track where he could receive boxcar shipments of sewer pipe, culvert pipe and other materials.

Following the tornado of 1952, John sold the Royal Theatre building to Mutti Motor Co. and on June 1, 1954 started manufacturing corrugated metal culvert pipes at the new plant in northwest Hopkins. During the next 10 years the culvert plant building was expanded 3 times.

In 1965 The J. L. Houston Co. would take on their largest expansion to date with a 50’x140’ building on the west side of the current culvert plant. This new building would be used for additional larger culvert fabrication and future tank manufacturing

John’s son and current owner Ronald would join the company after graduating from the University of Missouri in 1967. Soon thereafter the company started manufacturing steel storage tanks.

Countryside Products was formed in 1969 by John and Ronald Houston to handle and supply propane gas and related equipment to the area.

In the 1970’s the company would see continued growth. In 1972 the company built a new brick office on Craig street which is still the current location today. The company would become Incorporated in 1975 as Ronald was named the president of the corporation. Shortly after this in 1977 a new warehouse and truck shop were added between 3rd street and Hwy 148.

For the next 20 years The J. L. Houston Company would continue to grow and would expand its facilities approximately 10 times. Throughout the 80’s the tank manufacturing lines would continue to grow along with the sales of components for tanks.

One driving force in the growth was becoming members of STI (Steel Tank Institute) the governing body of many tank technologies. This along with adding UL listed tanks would expand the tank offering that The J. L. Houston Co. could produce. Ronald would have the privilege to serve on many committees and the board of directors for STI many times.

After suffering a stroke in 1991, the founder John L. Houston would pass on October 8th of 1999. Ronald would continue to grow the company. The last culvert pipes would be fabricated in the early 1990’s and phased out as storage tanks became the primary fabricated product. Coby Hayes would also be brought on as the plant manager in 1992 to help Ronald with the increased production and day to day activities.

Over the next decade the company would continue to grow adding a new 75’x100’ manufacturing building in 2001 and CNC plasma capabilities a couple of years later. Additions to the truck and trailer fleet were also made to meet the increased shipping demands.

In 2010 Ronald would venture into plastic tank market adding Houston Polytank to reach the chemical and bleach storage markets. A new plant building was constructed for this on the north east corner of the property.

As the demand for larger tank sizes and capacities continue The J. L. Houston Co. continues to grow completing many projects over the last 13 years.

In 2011 a 75’x 100’ manufacturing building was constructed with 40’ side wall and a 90’ tower. With this new building it would now be possible to produce up to 15’ diameter with 50,000 gallons of storage. Along with this building a new breakroom and bathrooms were added for the employees.

Additional office space was built in 2017 to the south end of the office that included a new conference room, kitchen, and storm shelter.

2019 would see the addition of a 60’x160’ storage building for trucks equipment and tanks.

In 2021 additional office space were added to the west side for the continued growth in staff.

Currently we are working toward completion of a new blast and paint facility that can be seen on the north side of the property.

Nearing the 70^th anniversary, The J. L. Houston Co. has grown to become one of the largest producers of storage tanks in the world. Over 3 million gallons of storage are produced annually and an average of 2000 tanks fabricated.