He went on to establish his own company with his brothers in Pennsylvania before deciding to move west along with the oil industry. Norris arrived in Tulsa in 1910 and established a new company – W.C. Norris – to manufacture equipment for oil production.
Open 2011-2012
His company grew from 8 employees in a small machine shop to an industrial complex covering two square blocks to a manufacturer with 3 separate facilities throughout the city. The Norris Company expanded and changed its production lines and contributed to technological developments as the decades went on before earning the title of largest sucker rod producer in the world. During WWII the plant changed gears to manufacture shell casings for the War Department and earned several prestigious awards for their work.
Operations continue today in West Tulsa more than 100 years after W.C. Norris first established his company in Tulsa.