Samuel Cabot Incorporated was founded in 1877 by a young American chemist who returned home from his studies in Switzerland with the idea of starting a coal tar dye industry to compete with the Germans.

When his efforts to make dyes from creosote were unsuccessful, Samuel Cabot started manufacturing wood preservatives from the large quantities of creosote distillate he had acquired at his small plant in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Cabot later pioneered a dispersion technique, called Collopaking, which combines finely ground pigments with creosote oil to provide superior penetration of the wood surface and improved protective qualities. Cabot invented the original wood preserving shingle stain and, in the process, created a brand new industry that continues to prosper today.

Under Cabot's inventive leadership, the company would go on to develop many other outstanding products including a coal tar-based disinfectant called Cabot's Sylpho-Nathol and a unique building insulation made from eel grass, called Cabot Quilt.

 

 

The original Chelsea plant burned to the ground in the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908. It was rebuilt and continued to serve the company until Cabot moved to its present location in Newburyport, MA in 1985.

Four generations of the Cabot family have managed the company since its founding 127 years ago. That leadership continues today under the guidance of the current chairman, Samuel Cabot III.

Samuel Cabot Incorporated was founded in 1877 and today is recognized as an industry leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of premium quality exterior wood stains and surface finishing products.

Four generations of the Cabot family have managed the company since its founding 127 years ago. That leadership continues today under the guidance of the current chairman, Samuel Cabot III.

 

The company employs 80 people at its headquarters and manufacturing complex in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and has regional distribution centers in Indiana, South Carolina and California. A nationwide network of distributors markets Cabot products to independent retailers including paint stores, lumber yards, home centers and hardware stores for use by builders and painting contractors, architects, interior designers and individual home owners.

The Cabot manufacturing plant in Newburyport, Massachusetts is one of the most efficient, technologically sophisticated and environmentally safe architectural coating production facilities in the world. Opened at a cost of $9 million in 1985, the computer- controlled, 125,000 square foot facility has a daily production capacity of 21,000 gallons of product. The plant is designed with the latest in environmental controls, high-speed dispersion and batching processes, filling and packaging systems and in-place cleaning.

Today, Cabot manufactures the industry's broadest line of quality exterior wood stains and surface preparation products for both residential and commercial applications. Stain products include Semi-Solid®, Semi-Transparent, O.V.T.® Solid Color Oil and Acrylic Stains, and acclaimed Decking Stains.

 

The company also produces Bleaching Oil®, Clear Solution®, The Finish, Australian Timber Oil, waterproofing, oil and acrylic primers, wood cleaner, wood brightener and wood stripper.