We were founded in 1950 in a small factory on Chicago's South Side. To accommodate our rapid growth, we moved into a new property located along the Belt-Line Railroad at the corner of Grand and Cicero Avenues in 1968. The manufacturing space of this property was expanded in 1975.

The Growth
By the late ‘70s Chicago Dowel developed Hayward Wood Products, situated at the heart of our raw material source in Hayward, Wisconsin, to guarantee a steady flow of quality white birch lumber to our Chicago factory. Today Hayward is a versatile sawmill, capable of supplying Chicago Dowel with all of its raw material needs.

In 1987, Chicago Dowel built a warehouse adjacent to our manufacturing plant to reduce inventory costs for customers both large and small. In the 1990s, in response to our customer’s growing quality control needs due to automated manufacturing processes, Chicago Dowel implemented electronic sorting methods. This is one of the reasons that our company has remained the low-cost provider in what has become a global market.

At the start of this new century we furthered our growth with the acquisition of Moran Dowel Company, a 79 year-old manufacturer of wooden dowel pins. Having incorporated the Moran operation into our own, we now offer over 130 years of dowel pin manufacturing experience.

We look forward to continuing to serve our customers with the same quality and service that they have come to expect. Additionally, we are committed to remaining the premiere dowel pin manufacturer by continuously investing in new technologies and forging new alliances. We invite you to share in our journey.

Today
Chicago Dowel Co., Inc., is America's leading manufacturer of wooden dowel pins and related wood products, with customers worldwide. We are a vital supplier to many industries including cabinet/casegoods, furniture, door and millwork.