Oak Street Tank and Steel, Inc. is still
under the same family ownership as it was in 1912. Some of
the names may have changed as the business was handed down
through the generations, but the product has stayed basically
the same.
The business does more specialty metal
work now than anything else, but its beginnings as an automotive
garage started a
trend in necessity that has lasted nearly 100 years. The
roots of the family business reach back to the beginnings
of the
town of Ashland. Eber Emery, one of the founders of the city
of Ashland, was Gene and Gayle Morris' great-grandfather.
Gene Morris is the father of Chris (the Office Manager) and
Jim
(the General Manager).
The original business started as the Oak
Street Garage in Lithia Park in 1912 with Simeon Morris.
In 1925, Sim and
his son Harry
opened the Oak Street Garage in what is now the Standing
Stone Brewing Co.
The Oak Street Garage practiced welding,
blacksmithing and general repair work for the town of Ashland.
In the
1930s,
it began making steel tanks and soon earned the name
Oak Street Tank and Steel, Inc.. In Sept. 1944, the company
moved to what
is now the A Street Marketplace, where it stayed until
2000. From Sim to Harry to Gene to Jim, the company has
evolved
through the years and through the generations adapting
to the needs
of the community.
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Tank & Steel