About Us
130 year history, now supplying over 7,000 tools internationally.
Our story
Starting small in the 1800s
In 1890, Jesse and Lester Williams started a small machine shop on East Church Street, repairing bicycles and automobiles, and fulfilling occasional tool orders for local contractors.
One local plasterer asked that they customise some tools for him. The customer was pleased with the improved product and more requests trickled in. The Williams brothers made a few more trowels and put them on the market. Word traveled fast and they began receiving orders from outside of the state.
The men needed more space, so they moved in 1902. They built a two-story machine shop, blacksmith shop, and automobile shop, as well as a boiler, engine room, and office. They began specialising in trowels and referred to that part of business as “Marshalltown Trowel Works.”
Marshalltown Trowel changed its name in 2003. The company had long since become more than just a “trowel” supplier and now offers over 7,000 products for professionals and do-it-yourselfers in asphalt, brick, concrete, drywall/plasterboard, tile and more. To its customers and others in the industry, the company is known for the best tools and it is known by one name – MARSHALLTOWN.
The Williams brothers began over 130 years ago and MARSHALLTOWN is now one of the largest tool manufacturers in the world. MARSHALLTOWN continues making major improvements to its infrastructure, manufacturing, and distribution processes to ensure that it can continue to serve its customers well for the next 130 years.
Proudly distributed in Australia by White International. Established in 1952 White International is an Australian family-owned business proudly supplying the Australian market with innovative products of the highest quality from world-leading brands.