A CENTURY OLD
Founded in 1904 by J.W. Tidwell, Southern Sheet Metal Works, Inc. is one
of the oldest and most respected sheet metal fabricators in the state.
Originally named Southern Cornice Works, the company was located at the
intersection of 2nd Street & Boulder near downtown Tulsa in a 10,000 sq.
ft. plant. Established at the beginning of the Oklahoma oil boom,
the enterprise supplied the surrounding oil fields with "everything in
sheet metal."
The
company's first move was to 116 South Cincinnati. The fabrication
of water tanks and storage tanks was giving way to the fabrication of
ventilators. Eventually the company obtained a patent for a
counter-balanced revolving ventilator, which was marketed throughout the
state for use on industrial and commercial buildings. This was the
main way of cooling the interiors of large structures before the
introduction of air conditioning.
The
next move came in 1946, when heating ducting was becoming a potential
business. The company moved to its present location at 1225 East
2nd Street, a 35,000 sq. ft. plant. The addition of two sons, J.W.
Tidwell, Jr. & Kyle Tidwell, prompted the move and growth into the HVAC
fields. Air conditioning was a fledgling business at the time but
the foresight of the Tidwell's led Southern Sheet Metal to the forefront
in this field.
In
the early 1970's, the third generation of the Tidwell family, Michael L.
Tidwell, had become president of Southern Sheet Metal. The firm
expanded its' operations to include hi-tech climate control systems.
As technology grew, so did the corporation's production of industrial
and commercial; ventilation, dust collection, heating, ventilating, air
conditioning and hi-tech clean air systems.
By
the mid-1980's, Southern Sheet Metal Works was a major supplier of
custom-fabricated metals such as stainless steel, brass, copper, nickel
and all other alloys of sheet metal to be used in many industrial,
commercial and residential applications. Southern Sheet Metal's
fabrication of PVC and plastic products is known as the standard in the
field of ventilation.
Whether it's custom metal fabrication, dust collection systems, entire
duct systems or AutoCAD/CAM, you can rely on Southern to exceed your
needs. It is quality work, on-time delivery and business ethics that have held
Southern Sheet Metal Works, Inc. as a leader in the sheet metal industry
for 100 years. With Michael L. Tidwell as president and CEO and
Ronald F. McGill as Vice President and GM, the company possesses a proud
inheritance of a century and the ability to progress with the future.
The following is a list of some of the many projects in which Southern has been involved:
Sinclair Research {Children's Medical Center}
Phillips Building at Bartlesville
Phillips Lab {buildings 6 & 7}
Amoco Lab Building
St. John's Hospital
St. Francis Hospital
Jane Phillips Hospital
Skelly Building
Amerada Building
Pan-Am South
East Central High School
Education Service Center
1st Tower Building
State Federal Savings & Loan
Hewgley Terrace
PSO Old Central High School
Woodland Hills Mall
Southroads Mall
Promenade Mall
American Airlines' Hangars
GRDA Plant
Kimberly Clark Plant