HISTORY
William Fisher Overly started the W. F. Overly Company in March of 1888. A master tinsmith by profession, the early business centered around tin and slate roofing. Following its success and expansion, the company entered the rapidly growing market for theater marquees and church steeples, becoming the country’s foremost supplier of church steeples well into the Twentieth century. Always on the forefront of design and manufacturing in developing markets, Overly was granted one of the first Underwriters Laboratories listing for their fire doors—wood cores covered with galvanized steel sheets.
In 1935, the assets of the company were sold to H, W. Wehe and became the Overly Manufacturing Company. Continuing its tradition of innovation, the Company left tin roofing behind with the development of proprietary batten metal and slate roof systems. The successful completion of several pentagon projects early in World War II led to the Company being award a contract for parts of the Manhattan Project. Overly was assigned to develop and construct the copper cooling jackets used in uranium processing for the first atomic bomb. Another wartime project was the bulkheads for LSTs used to deliver men and equipment to the beaches of the Pacific Theater.
After WWII and into the early 1950s, Overly entered the expanding housing market by manufacturing light gauge door frames. Throughout the ‘50s, Overly continued to develop new products and markets, starting with improved methods for manufacturing doors. Using the new processes, hollow metal fire doors and acoustic doors became major components of the business. The same superior design and manufacturing expertise led the company during the 1960s and 1970s to become the door industry leader in the areas of blast/pressure, bullet resistance, radiation shielding, and GSA vault security.
In 1991, the Wehe family sold the assets of Overly Manufacturing Company to Terry and David Reese. Soon after this acquisition, Overly became the first acoustical door manufacturer to obtain an STC 52 door construction in a traditional 1-3/4" thick door. In the mid 1990's, due to it's continued success, the Overly Manufacturing Company divided itself into two entities, the Overly Manufacturing Company who maintained the metal roofing, wall panel and rainscreen systems and the Overly Door Company who maintained all of the specialty Door and Fixed Window products.
Today, that spirit of excellence and innovation continues at Overly Door Company under our 2nd generation Reese family ownership which has been demonstrated in the recent developments of our newly tested BMD Blast Doors and STC 50 Acoustic Wood Door.