A 100 Year History of Gusher Pumps
Gusher Pumps is the flagship brand of the Ruthman Companies, a family-owned business that has been building industrial pumps for over 100 years. The Cincinnati-based Ruthman Machinery Company was co-founded in 1912 by brothers Edward and Alois Ruthman to service steamboats travelling the Ohio River.
The company quickly expanded their manufacturing beyond steamboat parts to a variety of parts for presses, dies and machinery. In 1924, Alois Ruthman designed the world’s first sealless centrifugal pump. While ‘Geyser’ was initially considered, Alois felt this pioneering pump needed a more forceful name, and the very first “Gusher” brand pump was born. At the same time, Alois coined the term ‘coolant pump’, which is widely used across the pump industry to this day.
From there, the company continued to design and manufacture reliable pumps for even the most challenging environments. Highlights include:
1939 Gusher’s first molten metal pump for extreme temperatures patented.
1941 Pump manufacturing moved to a larger facility on Reading Road in Cincinnati to meet increased WWII production demands.
1949 Thomas R. Ruthman joined his father Alois in the family business.
1962 The company marked 50 years of engineering innovation, manufacturing excellence and exemplary service with a year-long celebration.
1964 After a period of sustained growth, the company expanded to a new facility at Streng Street in Cincinnati.
1974 The Gusher Pumps brand was established as a standalone division and moved Dry Ridge, Kentucky to accommodate continued expansion.
1978 Sales and service offices were created in New Castle, Indiana and Cudahy, California to better serve customers across the country.
1979 Gusher invented the world’s first vertical top pull-out pump. This pioneering design significantly increased the efficiency of routine pump maintenance.
1994 Additional manufacturing capacity was added in Williamstown, Kentucky.
1997 The third generation, Thomas G. Ruthman, joined the family business full-time.
1998 Ruthmann Pumpen (Baesweiler, Germany) was established, manufacturing Gusher DIN Series pumps and serving Gusher’s European pump users.
2008 Gusher Shanghai (China) was established to provide sales and service support to Gusher’s growing customer base in Asia.
2012 100 years of engineering innovative pump solutions were celebrated with a three-day Distributor event hosted at Gusher.
Today, Gusher remains committed to manufacturing high-quality pumps that deliver decades of dependable service across a wide range of applications, from aquariums to automotive plants around the globe.
