Deansteel Manufacturing Company first ventured into the sheet metal business in 1856 when Joseph Dean, the great-great uncle of Company President John Dean, learned the craft of sheet metal working as an Indentured Apprentice issued by the Crown of England. After completing his apprenticeship, Joseph and his wife immigrated to Texas and set up shop in San Antonio. His primary business consisted of fabricating common steel household items like pots and pans, rain gutters, and stove pipes to name a few. The Dean name quickly earned a reputation throughout South Central Texas as a mark of quality workmanship.

At the close of World War II, Albert Dean, Jr. returned to San Antonio from his service in the US Navy, and through hard work and determination acquired the old sheet metal shop on South Flores Street started by his great uncle, and founded what is known today as Deansteel Manufacturing Company.

Deansteel’s first job was to manufacture doors and frames for the Laredo, Texas Hospital. The entire order was manufactured on a single, four foot, manually operated press brake; and the job was delivered on time! This was the start of our Hollow Metal division and for the next decade Deansteel focused on manufacturing high-quality, commercial duty steel doors and frames.

In 1969, Livingston Shipbuilding, located in Orange, Texas, asked Deansteel if we could provide them with Marine doors, frames, and wall trim durable enough for duty on offshore drilling rigs. We said yes, and Deansteel’s Marine Division was born. What started out as one custom job grew into an entire division of marine products.

Over the years, the company president, John Dean, saw a worldwide need for more specialized security products and branched out to start Deansteel BRP, Bullet Resistant Products Division. This is our newest division but is already expanding with the inclusion of Blast Resistant Products; and we expect to see steady growth as security concerns continue to be challenged around the world.

In the past 50 years, Deansteel has matured from a small sheet metal shop to a production facility that encompasses more than 138,000 square feet, and is equipped with some of the most modern fabricating equipment available. Deansteel maintains a stock inventory of 4,000 doors and more than 20,000 frame components to supply to our distributors.

While the company has experienced growth far beyond our founder’s expectations, the management and employees at Deansteel have retained Joseph Dean’s original commitments to quality craftsmanship, honest business practices, and the belief that without our customers we would not be here.