About Clow - A History of Hard Work, Commitment and Performance   The history of Clow Water Systems Company dates back to 1878 when 18 year old William E. Clow founded James B. Clow & Sons, a large plumbing supply distributor in Chicago, Illinois. Fearing that his youth would not serve him well within the Chicago plumbing trade, he decided to use his father's name on the business. The company continued as a distribution only business until an acquisition for an iron foundry was made in New Philadelphia, Ohio in 1892. When that foundry burned to the ground in 1895, a new plant with state-of-the-art casting techniques was built in Newcomerstown, Ohio. Thus the roots of a manufacturing company were born. Capitalizing on the growth of pressurized city water systems within the increasingly industrial Midwest, a second foundry was begun in nearby Coshocton, Ohio.

This facility started production on March 17, 1910. All of the pipes in those days were manufactured in vertical pit casting with sand molds. In 1922, the Coshocton facility manufactured the first centrifugal cast pipe sold in the United States.

• In 1909, construction began on a new plant in Coshocton, Ohio.
• In 1922, the Clow pipe plant in Coshocton manufactured the first centrifugal cast pipe sold in the United States.
• In 1928, Clow purchased the National Cast Iron Pipe Company of Tarrant, Alabama to obtain the rights to the deLavaud process of casting iron pipe.
• In 1967, the company name changed from James B. Clow & Sons to Clow Corporation.
• In 1977, Clow began production of ductile iron pipe.
• In 1985, McWane, Inc. purchased Clow Corporation. McWane, Inc. retained two plants - the pipe plant in Coshocton, Ohio (Clow Water Systems Company) and the valve plant in Oskaloosa, Iowa (Clow Valve Company).