ST. LOUIS – Local firefighter and South County resident, Steve Gray was working in his attic in early July. He was rummaging through the attic to place some wiring to install a new light when he came across a long, wooden board. He flipped it over, and discovered it was inscribed in red paint, “Murphy Company Mechanical Contractors and Engineers St. Louis, MO.”
Being the history buff, he is, Steve immediately started to research Murphy Company to see if the contractor was still in business. To his delight, Murphy Company was still in business and still had a local presence in St. Louis. With no need for the board himself, he reached out to the company on Facebook to see if the contractor had any interest in receiving this piece of its company history. Without hesitation, Murphy Company accepted the board, which was concluded to be a piece of a scaffold.
Steve was not aware of any family connection to Murphy Company, so the main question on everyone’s mind was how this piece of Murphy history ended up in his attic. Gray shared that the house belonged to his wife’s grandparents who occupied the home after it was built in the late 50s. He also mentioned his wife’s grandfather and uncle both worked at Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. Through the years, Murphy Company has done a lot of work for the American brewing company, which could be how the board got in his possession. Gray and his wife now occupy the home and have lived there for about a decade now, and with the need of a new light, discovered a piece of history. It’s amazing what you can find in the attic; and the saying stays true, that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
