Vaughan
- Headquarters
- Marshalltown, IA
- Manufacturing
- Bushnell, IL · Walnut Ridge, AR
- Categories
- hand-tools-and-workshop
Vaughan started in Chicago in 1869, when an 18-year-old blacksmith named Alexander Vaughan patented a post auger. It went into business with the hardware merchant Sidney Bushnell, and the firm moved to hammers, hatchets and wrecking bars. It opened a factory in Bushnell, Illinois in 1940, and five generations of the Vaughan family ran it until 2024. That year the company announced it would close. MARSHALLTOWN, the Iowa construction-tool maker, bought its assets in May with a $5 million grant from the State of Illinois and committed to keep at least 100 jobs at the Bushnell plant. Vaughan tools are now sold through the MARSHALLTOWN store.
Production stayed where it was. MARSHALLTOWN says Vaughan hammer heads are made in Bushnell from US-made high-carbon steel and the hickory handles are made in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The governor’s office and the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association describe the Bushnell workforce making hammers and pry bars there.
The label sets the mark. The hammer product pages say “Made in the USA with Global Materials”, and the brand’s Amazon titles say “Assembled in USA”. That is the qualified wording a maker uses when some content is imported, so this record sits at the second mark rather than the first. The Vaughan Bear Saw pull saws, sold in the same Vaughan section, carry no origin line on their product page and are not covered here.
The record
Vaughan hammers are sold as made in the USA with global materials
“This product is Made in the USA with Global Materials.”
web.archive.orgRetrieved
The brand says Vaughan hammer heads are made in Bushnell, Illinois and the hickory handles in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas
“VAUGHAN hammer heads are manufactured in Bushnell, Illinois, and hickory handles are manufactured in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.”
web.archive.orgRetrieved
The State of Illinois funded Marshalltown's purchase of the Vaughan & Bushnell plant to keep hammer-making in Bushnell
“In support of the project, the State of Illinois provided a $5 million grant to enable Marshalltown Hammer to acquire and establish operations in the former Vaughan & Bushnell facility.”
gov.illinois.govRetrieved
Domain record
marshalltown.com was registered on .It dates the domain, not the business: a maker that moved to a new address reads young here, and an old domain says nothing about who holds it now.
RDAP registry record · checked 19 Sep 2026
Products
Where to buyVaughan 999 Series Rip Claw Hammer, 20 oz, Hickory Handle
Where to buyVaughan California Framer Hammer, Hickory Handle
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