Our History

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, Alonzo Pawling and Henry Harnischfeger founded the original P&H business in 1884 as a machine and pattern shop for knitting machinery. P&H entered the crane industry in 1887 when it was approached about fitting a rope-driven traveling crane with three electric motors. The young company quickly expanded this initial crane product and by the early 1890s it was producing customized material handling machinery and related equipment for a variety of industrial applications.

In 1917, P&H first entered the international market with sales to one of the largest copper mining companies in Chile. In the 1930s, P&H expanded its product line to include hoists. Throughout its history, P&H has been an industry leader in both technological and product advancements, contributing to its long-standing reputation as a world-class manufacturer of high-quality, highly-engineered cranes.

Morris continued to refine the manufacturing processes for building standard-duty industrial hand-chain and electric wire rope hoists, while its engineered product group developed a world-wide reputation for building rail mounted gantry cranes capable of bearing more than 300 tons.