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This post originally appeared at Minyanville.
Over 230 years before the birth of the Transcontinental Railroad -- the industry that laid the tracks for American economic prosperity -- our country’s first entrepreneurs were setting up shop or, rather, farm.
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By many accounts, the first was Tuttle's Red Barn, established in 1632 on a settlement near the Maine-New Hampshire border with a small land grant from King Charles I.
We’ve come a long way from apples to AAPL.
Although countless businesses provided goods and services in America’s formative years, only a few -- including Caswell-Massey perfume and Philadelphia Contributionship insurance, both established in 1752 -- remain in operation. Fewer still can be found on the public market, either as standalone firms or smaller subsidiaries. Here, Minyanville profiles the 10 public companies with the oldest roots.
10. DuPont, Est. 1802
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The creation of one of the world’s most successful chemical companies is due, in large part, to the French Revolution. Company founder Eleuthère Irénée (E.I.) du Pont was a child of a French economist, political writer and government official who supported a constitutional monarchy, even volunteering to guard Louis XVI when a mob attacked the palace in 1792. After escaping death by guillotine, du Pont fled to America with his family.
The du Ponts settled in Delaware at the turn of the century and by 1802, E.I., who’d already studied gunpowder manufacturing with chemist Antoine Lavoisier in France, opened a powder mill on the Brandywine River near Wilmington. An under-tapped market in North America, du Pont's business saw early growth and by the Civil war, was supplying the Union Army with half of its gunpowder, including its black “Mammoth Powder” for heavy artillery use.
In the 20th Century, DuPont (DD) would continue to expand its empire to include the production of dynamite and smokeless powder, synthetic rubber, polyester, nylon, Teflon and essential materials used in the Apollo Space Project. It remains a pioneer in the fields of agriculture and nutrition, biotechnology, and sustainable materials.
9. JPMorgan Chase, Est. 1799
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From 1784 through 1791, Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of New York held its Federalist Party monopoly on Manhattan banking until a fellow Continental Army officer, lawyer and politician named Aaron Burr sought to give it some competition.
Under the guise of providing a waterworks service -- something the city needed following a yellow fever outbreak -- Burr created the Manhattan Company with a surreptitious clause in the charter that enabled the company to perform “moneyed transactions” with its excess capital.
By 1799, Burr’s company opened the Bank of the Manhattan Company, the city’s second commercial bank, in a house at 40 Wall Street. That company was eventually absorbed by Chase Manhattan Bank and then JPMorgan Chase (JPM).
What brought the famous enemies to the duel that took Hamilton’s life were not just personal and political differences. They were just as much about business and JPMorgan Chase now stands as the beneficiary of that rivalry.
8. Jim Beam, Est. 1795
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Before Kentucky was even a state, rebel farmer Jacob Beam began experimenting on his farm in the bluegrass hills with a recipe for bourbon whiskey, blending corn and grains with spring water, running it through a still and aging it in barrels. In 1795, he sold his first barrel.
Four generations and 13 years of prohibition later, the bourbon was branded Jim Beam after Jacob’s great grandson, Colonel James B. Beam, who recommenced the newly-legal business in 1933. Today, Jim Beam, under holding company Fortune Brands (FO), is one of the best selling brands of bourbon in the world.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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