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History of Dempster

Dempster Industries, Inc., originally known as Dempster Mill Manufacturing Company was founded in 1878 by Mr. Charles B. Dempster. At this time, the civil war was over and many American and Immigrant families were heading west to take up a new life where the U.S. government was offering them homestead land. Mr. Dempster was aware these home­steaders would need water pumps, machinery and tools to surviveaRd prosper. He therefore left Chicago to settle in Beatrice, Nebraska and on July 28, 1878 established a retail windmill and pump shop.

A manufacturing plant was built several years later to produce windmills, hand pumps, water well products and agricultural implements. During the years following. Dempster produced hundreds of various products and machines for the water and agricultural industries.

In 1891, Dempster began to manufacture well drilling machines. The Dempster rotary well drilling machine was a marvel of the day. Mounted well augers, cable drillinj~r products in three sizes, the jetting process for the 1 1/2 - 8 inch wells, and a combination hydraulic and cable drilling machine were also included in the well machinery line.

Dempster built a complete line of centrifugal pumps in the early 1 900s for irrigation and general use. The first electric pump was produced by Dempster in 1929 and was called the Model 812. The Model 812 was a deep-well reciprocating pump. Dempster’s centrifugal and deep-well pumps were known for their heavy-duty materials, Timken bearings, and long-lasting characteristics.

Dempster entered the submersible pump market in the 1 950s by distributing the Reda submersible line. In 1961 Sta-Rite Manufacturing Company began building Dempster submersible pumps. In 1965, Dempster produced and marketed its first submersible pump.

• 4-inch submersible pumps, motors, and controls
• Jet pumps; windmills; hand pumps; pump jacks; and piston metering pumps for anhydrous ammonia
• Piston metering purqps for liquid fertilizer
• Liquid transfer pumps

Dempster also produces special metric hand pumps that are made to universal specifications and sold to developing nations through UNICEF, and other benevolent groups. All of these items are sold to individuals, mostly through distributors.

Pumps and water systems make up over half of Dempster’ s total sales. Dempster continues to be the oldest continuing manufacturer of windmills in the world.

Recycling Equipment

Dempster continued its history of innovation in 1994 with the development of the AlleyCat Recyclable Solid Waste Trailer. The State of Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and the Nebraska Environmental Trust Grant Program were instrumental in the initial funding of the project. The program also provided funding for the City of Beatrice to purchase 10 of the trailers from Dempster Industries. Production manufacturing began shortly thereafter.

Today, recycling continues to be one of the most exciting lines for Dempster in the ever­growing recycling industry. Units are now sold in nearly every one of our 50 states. The unit has features unique and original to Dempster such as handicap accessibility, towing ease, and removable plastic bins.