Clyde S. Walton Inc. honored as Business of the Month
Home heating oil business has served Lansdale since 1921
The October winner of Lansdale’s Business of the Month award is a family-owned business that’s been busy in town for nearly a century.
From their location on Broad Street, Clyde S. Walton Inc. has helped heat homes — and do much more — for countless residents over the years.
“To sum up their company’s philosophy, ‘We’re good neighbors, we’re part of the community, and we’re more than just fuel delivery and HVAC repairs. We do the right thing, for our customers and the community,’” said council member Carrie Hawkins Charlton.
The company was originally founded in 1921 by Clyde Snyder Walton on the corner of Broad Street and Hancock Road, and started as a Gulf gas station and car dealership, according to Hawkins Charlton, because Broad Street was a concrete road and known as a local speedway.
“At the end of the 1920s and the 1930s, they phased out auto sales because of the Depression. Clyde kept the gas station and repair shop, and hard times meant more business for the repair shop anyway,” she said.
In 1936, Clyde took up an offer from Gulf to start selling fuel oil, and started selling fuel oil with a single 750-gallon truck — Hawkins Charlton drew gasps and chuckles by noting “at that time, heating oil was just six cents a gallon.”
Clyde purchased a second truck in 1940 and his son Raymond joined the company that year; the company survived fuel rationing during the second World War, and in the early 1950s as the company expanded, it purchased the adjacent lot and built a new office building which is now the company’s metal shop. In 1958, Clyde retired and Raymond took over the company, and Raymond increased the vehicle’s fleet while hiring another familiar face.
“Raymond also formalized installation and repair service by hiring the company’s first service man, Richard Stricker,” she said, naming another longtime Lansdale icon who passed away last year.
In the 1970s, the company began air conditioning services, and Raymond’s son Terry joined the company; in 1984 the company opened the first 24-hour fueling station in Lansdale, which now serves Lansdale Borough, the North Penn School District, and several local fire companies.
In the 1990s, Terry’s sons Scott, Jay and Chris started working for the company, and Scott accepted the award on behalf of his family Wednesday as Hawkins Charlton showed a slideshow of photos of the company and its efforts, which now reach Bucks and Montgomery counties.
“We’ve been very, very fortunate to have surrounded ourselves by great employees, great customers — lots of them, I see in this room — and lots of great partnerships,” he said.
“Lansdale has been a great place, not only to work, but to live and raise our children,” Walton said.
In addition to their fuel, repair and maintenance services, Waltons has also helped out the community and various nonprofits. Starting in 2007, Waltons began donating heating oil to families in need via nonprofit food pantry Manna on Main Street.
“In the 10 years since then, Waltons has donated more than 20,000 gallons of fuel oil, and each year Waltons donates two heaters to two families in need,” Hawkins Charlton said.
The company has also stayed involved with local and regional trade groups and charities, and has earned several other awards this year including recognition from the PennSuburban Chamber of Greater Montgomery County. Walton thanked council for the award, and for the their efforts to attract and keep businesses in town.
“You folks do an awful lot, and without your time and volunteer hours, this community wouldn’t be what it is,” he said.