England’s stove works as cories stated is a definate yes. Bob England founded the company back in the mid 70’s literally out of his garage, Ron , his oldest son , and he were welders who had been helping build a paper mill ( which had hired my father hence my connection, ron knew my dad , way back when) i digress. anyway here’s how i recall hearing the story told…
a fellow who worked with the englands back then building this mill asked if they could build him a woodstove similar to one he had seen somewhere (actually it was a fisher stove) bob (who i will refer to as “pop” england from hence) said yeah they could , just need the steel to make it from. price haggling was short and simple , pop wanted a woodstove in his garage / shop at home so the cost for the fellows stove was that he buy enough steel for 2 and pop would keep one and the fellow would get the other.by the way the origional stove still exists and will be displayed in the amherst county historical museum following its current renovation having been restored to its “new” condition by the techs at ESW (wasnt hard the stove just needed a few bricks and a new paint job, but it was fun to watch as some of the old timers told “pop” stories to the newer generation) from there it was building stoves and charging steel until local stores picked up on them and then a regional chain then a national chain and the rest as they say , is history. (by the way , my dad bought a stove from the early crop in 1977 so i literally grew up with englander heat, that stove is still functional and in dad’s basement) and just for kicks i’ll toss this out there , the welder (machine) that was used to build that first stove , i watched ron fix a broken part on a neighbor’s hay bailer last monday with it, of all the toys the man has (and he has several trust me) the one he loves to pull out is that old lincoln welder, still runs a smooth bead especially when ron’s the one waving the wand.
not only is the company still owned by the origional, but ron still slips down to the shop , watches the process, and on occasion still drops the lid and shows a trick or two to a welder from time to time, CEO or not , the guys love him, probably because he wouldnt look out of place in the next booth from thiers. you asked , yes , there is at least one , and the owner definately is , an origional.
