The McCabe Story

The J.H. McCabe Company began in the 1930s through the ingenuity of our grandfather, Joseph S. H. McCabe Sr.

Joseph developed both the McCabe Water Level Indicator Paste and McCabe Gasoline Level Indicator Paste as tools to enhance and facilitate the accuracy of tank gauging and inventory verification of bulk liquids, mainly petroleum and petrochemicals.

Born in 1901, Joseph was an orphan with only a fifth-grade formal education from St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore, Maryland. As a young boy, Joseph worked many jobs before apprenticing in a dry cleaning business where he developed a good understanding of petroleum chemistry. Subsequently, he took his self-taught knowledge and went to work with Sun Oil Company in Marcus Hook, PA, eventually handling distribution logistics and setting up terminals along the East Coast.

Because of his experience, Joseph was called upon to help guide petroleum supplies worldwide during World War II as a “Dollar–A-Year Man”. By then, Joseph had moved into the petroleum inspection industry, setting up the first calibration department and later directing E.W. Saybolt & Co. into an international company with offices in key ports all over the world. He was a charismatic entrepreneur who was honored by many including the American Society of Chemical Engineers and the American Petroleum Institute.

From inception, all family members have played significant roles in the continuation of the development and growth of our family business.

Renamed McCabe & Sons, Inc. in 1992, the company has evolved through experience with or direct business involvement in service stations, petroleum terminals, refineries, the barge and shipping industry, inventory control, calibration, and laboratory analysis.