Crane Co., founded in 1855 in Chicago by Richard Teller Crane, grew into one of the most influential engineering firms in the United States. While best known for valves, fittings, and flow‑control systems, Crane played a meaningful—though often understated—role in the evolution of water‑metering infrastructure.

Rather than competing directly with major meter manufacturers, Crane became indispensable through its brass foundries, meter bodies, service fittings, strainers, and industrial‑grade flow‑measurement assemblies. Their engineering standards shaped the reliability and accuracy of early municipal metering programs across the U.S.

Crane’s legacy in water measurement is best understood as structural rather than branded: they built the hardware, standards, and industrial ecosystem that made widespread water metering possible.

Year and Milestones.

1855 - Richard T. Crane establishes Crane Bros. Manufacturing Co. in Chicago, producing brass goods and plumbing hardware.

1870s–1890s Crane becomes one of America’s largest brass and bronze foundries, supplying fittings, valve bodies, and castings used by early water‑meter manufacturers.

1890s - Crane catalogs begin listing water‑service fittings, meter yokes, strainers, and meter-setting hardware, positioning the company as a key infrastructure supplier.

1900–1930 - Municipal procurement records show Crane-branded compound meters and Crane-supplied meter bodies for industrial and high‑flow applications.

1930s–1940s - Crane publishes the first edition of the TP410 Flow of Fluids Handbook, which becomes a global engineering standard for flow measurement and calibration.

1950s–1970s - Expansion into instrumentation and industrial flow meters, including turbine and process‑water measurement systems.

1980s–2000s - Crane consolidates into a diversified engineering group, focusing on valves, sensing, and flow‑control systems rather than domestic water meters.

2000s–present - Through divisions such as Crane ChemPharma & Energy and Crane Process Flow Technologies, the company remains a leader in flow measurement, industrial metering, and control instrumentation. Crane divisions produce Turbine flow meters,

Differential‑pressure instruments, Industrial process‑water measurement systems and Seal‑water control units. THe HWM.Museum has a rare 5/8" intact Crane water meter in its collection.