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LPC started with one simple vision: be the best, be the strongest, and endure the test of time. Throughout generations of commitment to excellence and building sustainable infrastructure, we continue to succeed in building and maintaining the foundations of Kentuckiana.
Our story beings over a century ago with Joseph Michael Dougherty, whose parents immigrated from Ireland in 1850. In 1919, he purchased property on Charlton Street to house his recently formed Dougherty Coal Company. It would become the city’s largest regional retail coal distribution center and home to various family businesses for the next 98 years.
Dougherty Coal Company continued to grow with the addition of other retail yards and a joint venture into coal mining. With Joseph Michael’s sudden death in 1927, his son Joseph Thomas Dougherty took up the reins at 25 years old. The business flourished under his care, even through the Great Depression.
Throughout the ‘30s, the coal business was undergoing great changes. Although the effects of the Great Depression lasted the entire decade, strides in the development of the motor car, along with more and better roads, quickly changed life in America. Dougherty Coal had delivered for years by mule-drawn carts!
With the World at War, many things were rationed. But everyone needed to stay warm so the Dougherty Coal Company continued to be successful. Although peace promised prosperity by mid-decade, the advancement of Texas Gas lines into the state in 1948 spelled the beginning of the end of the retail coal business. Gas was cheaper, easier, and cleaner.
Joe’s son Jack graduated from Notre Dame in 1949 and came to work for the company. While their modern fleet of delivery trucks sat idle during warm months came the idea for asphalt, and thus, Louisville Paving Company was born, With an investment in paving equipment, the company focused on delivering coal in the winter and asphalt paving in the summer.
Jack’s brother Bill graduated from Notre Dame and, following a stint in the Air Force, joined the company in the late ‘59. His first project was the purchase and installation of the company’s first asphalt plant. The capacity was a whopping 30 tons per hour! Coal deliveries continued to decline until ‘67, when Dougherty Coal ceased their operations.
The company continued to grow, supplemented by Tenni-Trac Sports Surfaces branching into the recreational market and Commercial Pavers focusing on more industrial and public projects.
The ‘80s started with the third and final plant at the Charlton Street location. It was one of four the company operated during the decade. Jack’s son, John who started in 1978, became more involved with the plants as the decade progressed. He began bidding on on-site jobs in 1986, with the goal of being a one-stop solution for developers.
In one case where we were in the right place at the right time, Toyota announced plans to build their first US manufacturing plant in Georgetown, less than a year after the Dougherty Company was formed and had erected a plant just a few miles away. Sometimes, the harder you work, the luckier you get.
The ’90s were the Company’s strongest to date. Material Transfer, Bethlehem Sand and Gravel, Ohio Valley Asphalt, and Pace Contracting all had their starts during the decade. It was bigger for the players on board who watched the company accelerate and thrive.
With the new century, Louisville Paving and companies were reorganized under the umbrella of LPX. This also continued the rolling over of the old guard with new energetic leaders.
As oil prices spiked to all-time highs, plans were made to build a bulk asphalt terminal, Carrollton River Terminal. This was another piece in our quest to become the low-price leader in our industry.
Just as the Great Recession began, we secured and successfully completed Revive 65, a major reconstruction of I-65 near the airport that carried major penalties and very little time to complete.
We began to pursue the large public sector grade and bridge work and thus changed our name to Louisville Paving and Construction. Bluegrass Testing Laboratory was founded with the goal of becoming the premier national material design and testing facility. It also marked the beginning of a 5th generation of management with Hunter Strickler.
After 40 years of talk, construction began on the Ohio River Bridges Project. LPC was selected for the largest single paving project on the downtown bridge in what would become the largest single construction project in the United States at that time. The project was a success and underscored LPC’s strength as an organization.
