The Silver Brothers and Iron and Steel In Utah

Index For This Page

This page was last updated on July 7, 2026.

(Return to Iron and Steel Index Page)

Silver Brothers (1862-1915)

The Silver Brothers were among the first of several foundries and machine shops in Utah, 1850 to 1950, that helped form Utah's industrial base, especially the mines, mills, and factories. These were the companies that made machines that made machines. They made "big iron" that kept Utah's industral base going.

The Silver Iron Works’ was established in the early 1860s by William John Silver (1832-1918), a Mormon immigrant born in London, England. Silver’s original foundry and machine shop was located at 149 West North Temple (demolished c.1910). In 1886, William J. Silver's sons took over the family business and formed the Silver Brothers Iron Works. John A. Silver (1855-1916) was president, with Hyrum A. Silver (1859-1921) as vice-president, and Joseph A. Silver (1857-1930) as secretary-treasurer. Their company was the largest iron, steel and brass foundry in the Salt Lake area, and began to manufacture machinery for Utah's sugar beet industry.

William J. Silver (1832-1918)

John A. Silver (1855-1916)

Joseph A. Silver (1857-1930)

Hyrum A. Silver (1859-1921)

The Silver Brothers shop was in Salt Lake City. Their address was 540 West Seventh South. Although Silver Brothers itself is gone, that original building is still there, with numerous additions that were added over the years.

In 1906, Hyrum Silver sold his interest to his brothers and established his own machine shop at 454 West 500 North, which was later demolished. The same year, 1906, the Silver Brothers firm built a much larger foundry in the southwest portion of Salt Lake City on 700 South between what is now 500 and 600 West. The new location was between two railroad lines and near the 700 South (Poplar Grove) streetcar line. In 1992 that origianl structure remained but was surrounded concrete block-additions from the 1950s to 1970s. The office was built in about 1909, and faced 700 South. The 1911 Sanborn map shows that adjacent warehouse a pattern shop and for pattern storage.

During this period, the Silver Brothers Iron Works boasted it was the "Largest Foundry, Machine Shop, Boiler Shop, and Blacksmith Shop, in the West." It also had a large stock of "I Beams, Channels, Angles" and produced "Manganese Steel Castings from 5 Pounds to 5 Tons."

Joseph A. Silver later purchased his brother John’s interest. In the 1907 Polk directory, Joseph Silver is listed as president, with James Silver, his son, as general manager. In 1915, Joseph sold his interests and moved to New York. The foundry was renamed Salt Lake Iron and Steel Company.

Mr. Silver had come to Utah in 1859 and had opened his iron works "three years later" in 1862. He built the first steam engine in the territory, and in 1868 he also built the first steam engine to be used on Great Salt Lake. The boat was called the "Kate Connor" and was built for General P. E. Connor.

In 1893, when he bought the old Sun Foundry in Provo and put it into operating condition, Silver was the only member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the Utah territory. (Daily Enquirer, June 6, 1893)

In later years, Silver Iron Works became Silver Brothers Iron Works, being managed by Silver's three sons, John, Hyrum and Joseph. William Silver was born in London, England, came to Utah in 1859 and died at age 86 on November 6, 1918. (Salt Lake Herald, May 6, 1897; Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1918)

July 24, 1897
"One of the important manufacturing enterprises of Salt Lake City, and one which has added much to the prosperity of the city, is the iron works of Silver Bros., 149 West North Temple street. The plant is one of the largest in the West and is thoroughly equipped in every particular." "The Silver brothers manufacture steam engines, boilers, mining, milling, smelting machinery and implements. They also manufacture building fronts and other iron work for large buildings. In the line of general machine work this firm is prepared to undertake contracts of any nature, simple of intricate." "The business was established in 1863 by Mr. W. J. Silver, the present firm succeeding him. The members of the firm are Messrs. Joseph A., Hyrum A. and John A. Silver. They came to Salt Lake in 1859 when in boyhood." (Deseret Evening News, July 24, 1897)

In 1898, the Silver Brothers Iron Works Company, Salt Lake City, Utah, was incorporated to manufacture machinery structural iron and steel work. John A. Silver was president, Hyrum A. Silver vice-president and Joseph A. Silver treasurer, secretary and manager.

June 15, 1899
"At the Silver Brothers Iron works company Manager Joseph A. Silver was so busy that he could hardly take time to tell The Review what his company had been doing during the past two weeks, but it was learned that during this period the concern had filled an order for a friction drum for the Swansea company; a beet wheel for the Utah Sugar company, a mining cage for the Victoria mine, ten ore cars for the Grand Central, besides which 30,000 pounds of castings had been turned out for the Highland Boy smelter." (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 15, 1899)

May 30, 1901
"Silver Bros.' Foundry has booked many heavy orders during the past month for mining machinery and supplies and for building material, such as structural steel and castings." (Salt Lake Mining Review, May 30, 1901)

August 11, 1906
From the Deseret News, August 11, 1906.

The buildings of the Hyrum A. Silver Foundry & Machine company, have just been completed at 454 W. 5th North, and which is one of the largest concerns of its kind in the city.

The firm is officered by the following: Jos. J. Daynes, Jr., President; Hyrum A. Silver, Vice President and Manager; Seymour B. Robbins, Secretary and Treasurer; George J. Silver, assistant Manager. These with Willard T. Cannon, Arthur Winter, Culbert L. Olsen, Edward E. Jenkins and Ernest D. Rumel, constitute the directorate.

Mr. Hyrum A. Silver, who is manager of the firm, is one of the originators of the Silver Bros. Iron Works company, who recently severed his connections with that firm and organized the new firm under the above name.

The firm herewith represented is prepared to handle anything in the Machine or Foundry line, and will in a short time be prepared to make steel castings, which will be of great importance to the State, as heretofore it has been impossible to secure anything in the steel casting line this side of St. Louis or Chicago.

The firm has in its shops some of the largest and latest improved machines to be procured in the eastern market and being located on the railroad line are in a fair condition to compete favorably with any in their line of business. The firm will employ, when in full running order, about seventy-five men.

1907
Silver Brothers moved from their location on West North Temple street, to a larger location at 7th South and 5th West (today's 600 West). (Salt Lake Herald, November 5, 1915)

August 18, 1912
The first steel made in Utah was by Silver Brothers in 1912. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 8, 1912)

(Silver Brothers was where Copper Belt sent its wrecked Shays for repairs on at least four occasions: 1904, 1907, 1908 and 1912.)

August 18, 1912
Steel castings are now made in Salt Lake City by the Silver Brothers Iron Works. "For several months past Silver Brothers Iron works has been operating a modern steel plant, first as an experimental demonstration of a new process, said to be more efficient and economical than others, and later as an established plant, from which castings of high-grade steel are being furnished railroad, smelting, mining and other companies." "When running to full capacity, produces from 36,000 to 40,000 pounds of high grade, tested steel a day," using one newly completed converter. (Salt Lake Tribune, August 18, 1912)

In 1912, the Silver Brothers Iron Works in Salt Lake City successfully introduced a new, efficient, and economical process for converting pig iron into high-grade steel. Historically, Utah and the intermountain region relied entirely on Eastern companies for steel, costing the region an estimated $12 million to $15 million annually. By manufacturing steel locally, the mines and businesses can eliminate heavy shipping charges, as well as make use of Utah's vast iron resources. This helped create jobs and establish Salt Lake City as a major industrial and distribution hub.

The new process used by the Silver Brothers to make steel in Utah included three main steps:

In 1912 the Silver Brothers plant operated one converter, producing 36,000 to 40,000 pounds of high-grade steel daily for railroads, smelters, and mining companies (including recent shipments to Los Angeles). Expanding this industry to multiple plants and converters would drastically scale up local iron mining, save consumers money, and attract large-scale capital to the region.

First Steel Castings In Utah: The breakthrough for local steel casting in Utah occurred in 1912 when Joseph A. Silver of the Silver Brothers Iron Works mastered the Bessemer process. By implementing this method, Silver Brothers became the first company in Utah to successfully manufacture true steel castings, breaking the state’s reliance on eastern steel foundries for complex, high-strength machine parts.

November 1915
Silver Brothers Iron and Foundry Works was reorganized in November 1915 as the Salt Lake Iron & Steel Co., with members of the Silver family still as members of the board. James W. Silver was to be general manager of the new company. The articles of incorporation were to be filed "today." (Salt Lake Herald, November 5, 1915)

(John A. Silver died on March 22, 1916.)

The reorganization of the company was due to debt and other losses. One of the grandsons of the original William J. Silver, James Watson Silver, although named as general manager, left the company in May 1916 and moved to Ogden and founded the Ogden Iron Works, which manufactured machinery for the sugar beet and mining industries. He was apparently the last of the Silver family associated with the former Silver Brothers company, after Joseph A. Silver retired earlier in 1916. Ogden Iron Works went out of business in 1991.

William J. Silver (1832-1918)

From the Salt Lake Mining Review, November 15, 1818.

Mr. Silver built the first steam engine ever used in Utah. This was in November, 1868. At the time facilities for such a task, west of the Rocky Mountains, were limited. Gray iron was practically unobtainable, while brass could be obtained in limited quantities only, and while the casting of this engine was of brass, no unnecessary amount of copper was used. For the making of the castings Mr. Silver paid a dollar a pound, furnishing the material himself, which cost twenty-five cents a pound. As a result of furnishing his own copper he was enabled to make a considerable saving, as the price of brass castings at that time was $1.50 per pound. So far as possible the engine was made of wrought iron, the material for which was obtained from iron taken from broken-down wagons. The base plate was composed of flat plates bolted together, these plates being made from the tires of old wagons. The bolts were made from old log chain links. The frame, connecting rod, main shaft and other forgings were forged from old wagon irons. For a flywheel Mr. Silver was fortunate in obtaining a gear which had been part of a threshing machine, and this gear was used for this purpose without tearing off the teeth, grey iron being altogether too valuable a material to waste for mere looks. Alongside the flywheel was a wooden belt-pulley. The engine had a 3 1/2 by 7-inch cylinder and Mr. Silver received $600 for it. It was built to drive wood-working machinery.

Mr. Silver also constructed the first steamboat to be used on the Great Salt Lake. It was built for General Conner, then in charge of Ft. Douglas, and was named the "Kate Connor." It was ninety feet in length by thirty feet wide. The machinery for this boat was supplied by Mr. Silver, although he did not build the engine. For this equipment a crank and flywheel steam pump was obtained, and by disconnecting the water end and gearing the pump to the paddle-wheel shaft it was made to drive the boat. The pump had no globe valve and such a thing could not be obtained in the then Territory of Utah. Eventually a two-inch plug cock was found and this was made to serve the purpose of a throttle. The boat was used on the lake for several years and gave excellent service.

Not long after the first engine was built by Mr. Silver the first merchant iron was brought into Salt Lake, consisting of half a dozen 5/8-inch round bars. Mr. Silver immediately purchased all of this iron at 25 cents a pound. His first vice cost him $65.

###

More Information

Foundry article at Wikipedia

Machining article at Wikipedia

###