HISTORIC HOME OF INNOVATION
The history of Davey's Bryce Road
facility starts in 1953, when masons
neatly stacked brick and concrete
blocks to build a non-descript
building in a quiet neighborhood
on the west side of Kent, Ohio.
Today we know this small building
played a big role in the Davey
Company. And the neighborhood it
stands in is home to several historic
Davey buildings, including John
Davey's homestead, Davey
Elementary School and the home
where late Davey president Paul
Hershey lived until his death in 1984.
The Bryce Road facility opened in
1954 as the Davey Technical Service
Center. It represented the first time
the company housed the office,
laboratory and library for the tech-
nical staff under one roof. When it
opened, the Tech Center also served
as home to the photographic
department and the "Davey Motion
Picture Library," which loaned
training and scientific films to
employees. The property included a
greenhouse.
In December 1954 Davey officials
invited nearly 100 representatives of
utility companies for an open house.
Tech Center employees demonstrated
Davey's wide array of services and
new, specialty equipment–like tree
chippers–for the utility officials.
That same year, M. W. "Biff" Staples
used the Tech Center to introduce to
company supervisors a new speed
saw developed by employees. This
new saw cut faster and was easier
to sharpen.
The building included classroom
space for the Davey Institute of Tree
Sciences. The 1954 D.I.T.S. class
planted a row of pin oak trees along
the south side of the building that
still stand today.
Through the 1970s the Tech Center
continued as the base for research
and development. The creation of
the groundbreaking Arbor Green
liquid fertilizer took place here,
except for field tests at the Davey
Tree Research Farm in Shalersville,
Ohio. And Davey's early lawn care
services also started at the Tech
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The lab at the Davey Technical Service Center
fostered years of research and development.
ARCHIVES
FROM
THE
Center, which was renamed the
Davey Horticultural Institute in May
1976 to indicate the actual scope of
the staff activities: technical service,
applied research and education. The
Institute moved in 1985 when the
current corporate center opened.
Late Davey president Paul Hershey
lived nearby on Bryce Road.
Hershey spent 42 years with Davey
and served as president from 1965
to 1968. He lived in the former
John Davey homestead at 338
Woodard Ave. until 1975, when
he moved to 814 Bryce Road–
practically across the street from
Davey Elementary School and a
stone's throw from the tech center.
All four buildings–Davey Bryce
Road, John Davey's homestead,
Davey elementary and Hershey's
house–are within three-quarters
of a mile of each other.
Read about the building's
renovation on page 18.
Davey's Technical Service Center is shown just after its construction is completed in 1954.
