On Saturday, October 1, Seiler Instrument and its employees celebrated the company's 60th year in business by hosting an open house at its headquarters in Webster Groves. Founded in 1945 by Eric H. Seiler and his wife, Dora L. Seiler, Seiler Instrument & Manufacturing Company began as a small survey instrument repair shop located at 922 Pine Street in downtown St. Louis. Since then, it has grown into a multi-divisional company specializing in manufacturing military equipment, distributing surveying instruments and supplies, microscopes, and planetarium projectors throughout the United States.
Eric H. Seiler arrived in the United States with a master's degree in fine optics from the Zeiss Jena School of Fine Optics in Jena, Germany and an appreciation of fine craftsmanship and pride in his work. Within a few years of the company's founding, Seiler began designing and manufacturing his own surveying instruments. Within another two years, Seiler Instrument was manufacturing and distributing up to 100 instruments per month through a national dealer network. Hence, the surveying and manufacturing divisions were born.
Today, the surveying division continues to manufacture tripods for the industry and is one of the largest sources of brand name surveying equipment, supplies, service and repair in the Midwest. The manufacturing division at Seiler also experienced tremendous growth throughout the years, becoming one of the top 25 military and government contractors in the area.
Source: Seiler, Sept. 20, 2005
