Spurlin businesses and brands
An overview of companies, products, patents and trademarks bearing the Spurlin name, from a 19th-century Alabama jewelry store and a mid-century Oklahoma farm-equipment dealer to today's builders and funeral homes, concentrated in the US South, especially Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina.
Sourcing: mixed 10 official · 5 news · 7 reference · 8 commercial · 1 government · 1 social · 4 genealogy · 1 book
Businesses carrying the Spurlin name are almost all family-owned, small-to-mid-sized firms, clustered in the southeastern United States.
Construction and real estate
The best-documented firm is Don Spurlin Construction of Albertville, Alabama, a commercial design-build contractor dating from the mid-1980s, whose founder entered the Alabama Building Industry Hall of Fame in 2019.[1][2] The founder, Don Spurlin, also ran for public office, finishing second in the 2008 Albertville mayoral race and losing the 2010 Republican runoff for Alabama Senate District 9.[3][4] The construction firm works alongside the brokerage Spurlin & Company Real Estate Group.[5] Smaller builders operate in Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas (see Other Spurlin construction firms).[6]
Funeral service
The Spurlin family operates three central Kentucky funeral homes: Spurlin Funeral Home of Lancaster (opened 1996),[7] Spurlin Funeral Home in Stanford (1999, in an 1856 building),[8] and Preston Pruitt Spurlin Funeral Home in Danville, a business founded in 1880 and acquired by the Spurlins in 2014.[9] The Stanford firm's name has also been attached to a local radio show: a 2017 Interior Journal photo caption called WPBK-FM's call-in trading program "Spurlin Funeral Home's General Store" (see Spurlins in broadcasting).[10]
Manufacturing and products
Spurlin Industries of Palmetto, Georgia, incorporated in 1984, made acrylic whirlpool tubs, fiberglass tubs and showers, which were sold through plumbing wholesalers such as Ferguson. The Georgia corporation was administratively dissolved in 2017. See Spurlin Industries and Spurlin whirlpool baths.[11][12][13]
Energy, transport and professional services
Other examples include Spurlin Oil Co. of Talladega, Alabama (incorporated 1982),[14] Spurlin Trucking of Wake Forest, North Carolina,[15] and the Tifton, Georgia, law firm Spurlin & Spurlin.[16] Smaller firms are collected in Spurlin professional services businesses and Spurlin trades and service businesses.
Historic businesses
Few 19th- and early 20th-century Spurlin businesses are documented, but some are:
- Jewelry store, Camden, Alabama. W. F. Spurlin wrote in 1913 that by 1856 he was "conducting a jewelry store in Camden, Ala., repairing watches, jewelry, and engraving".[17]
- Mills, Grayson County, Virginia. According to a biography shared by his WikiTree profile and Find a Grave memorial, Andrew Jackson Spurlin (died 1923) farmed and ran a grist mill and a saw mill on the New River south of Independence, Virginia.[18]
- Merchant, Hamilton, Texas. In 1906 a San Antonio newspaper called John L. Spurlin (1853–1935) "one of the biggest merchants of West Central Texas". He gave his name to the railroad town of Spurlin, Texas (see Spurlins of Hamilton County, Texas).[19]
- Dental practice, Berryville, Arkansas. Dr. Robert Parker Spurlin (1879–1948) settled in Berryville in 1903, and by 1922 the Centennial History of Arkansas called his practice "very extensive".[20] Later Berryville uses of the name are covered in Spurlin dental practices.
Spurlin Sales Company (El Reno, Oklahoma)
Spurlin Sales Company of El Reno, Oklahoma, was a farm-equipment business. The obituary of Richard "Dick" Spurlin (1929–2020), who grew up in El Reno, calls it the family farm-equipment business and says he branched off from it in 1955 to start his own distributorship, Dixon Distributers, Inc., in Oklahoma City.[21] A Find a Grave memorial for a mechanic, Clarence Lee Bomhoff (1933–2012), says he rose to shop foreman at Spurlin Sales in El Reno and worked there until 1971.[22] The firm's advertising items now turn up in resale markets. WorthPoint's archive records a 13½-inch metal advertising thermometer titled "Spurlin Sales MF CASE El Reno, Ok.",[23] another advertising thermometer titled "Spurlin Sales Farm Equipment Case Massey Hesston", whose record names no town,[24] and a Christmas card that its seller says came from "Spurlin Sales Co. El Reno, Oklahoma", with a Ford tractor and Dearborn farm-equipment theme.[25]
Collectibles, historic brands and small makers
Several Spurlin-named products and historic brands are now collected:
- Spurlin Dairy of Carlsbad, New Mexico, run by Elmer and Gladys Spurlin, whose pyroglazed milk bottles are sold as collectibles.[26][27]
- Spurlin Ceramics of Lynwood, California, a 1950s–60s maker of tiki mugs.[28] Its pieces for the Islander restaurant in Los Angeles include the Cobra's Fang mug and the Vicious Virgin mug and bowl.[29][30]
- Signed wooden puzzle boxes by Ken Spurlin of Nevis, Minnesota.[31]
- The Shirt Shop in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, founded by Charles Spurlin in 1979.[32]
See Spurlin collectibles and memorabilia and Spurlin handmade goods and small brands.
Patents and trademarks
Spurlin inventors have patented cellulose and polymer chemistry for the Hercules Powder Company (Harold M. Spurlin), vibratory feeders for the Syntron Company (William V. Spurlin), tractor implements for Harry Ferguson, Inc. and Ford, and semiconductor electroplating methods (see Spurlin patents).[33][34] Trademark activity is modest (see Spurlin trademarks).[35]
Not Spurlin
Some brands turned up by searches belong to the related but distinct surname Spurling, among them Spurling Guitars, a maker of custom classical and steel-string guitars,[36] and the Spurling Law Firm in Birmingham, Alabama.[37] More look-alike names are listed in Spurlin lookalike business names. No verifiable Spurlin-branded guitars, knives, boats, firearms accessories, wineries, distilleries or auto dealerships were found.
See also
- Don Spurlin Construction · Companies strong
Don Spurlin Construction, Inc. is a commercial general contractor and design-build firm based in Albertville, Alabama. The Better Business Bureau gives its start date as 1986 and the company's own site gives 1988. It was incorporated in 1994 and works across Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Its founder, Don Spurlin, ran for Albertville mayor in 2008 and for the Alabama State Senate in 2010. - Don Spurlin (Albertville developer and candidate) · People strong
Don Spurlin is an Albertville, Alabama, builder, developer and founder of Don Spurlin Construction. He finished second in the 2008 Albertville mayoral race and lost the 2010 Republican runoff for Alabama Senate District 9 to Clay Scofield. - Spurlin & Company Real Estate Group · Companies mixed
Spurlin & Company (Spurlin Real Estate) is a commercial real estate brokerage in Albertville, Alabama, affiliated with Don Spurlin Construction. The company dates it to 1995; from 2011, after his partnership in Henderson and Spurlin Real Estate ended, Don Spurlin concentrated his real-estate business in it. - Other Spurlin construction firms · Companies mixed
Besides Don Spurlin Construction, several smaller builders carry the Spurlin name: Mark Spurlin Construction Co. in Alabama, whose owner ran for mayor of Pike Road in 2025, Spurlin Builders in Kentucky, Spurlin Construction LLC in Arkansas, Spurlin Masonry in Georgia and the former roofing contractor Estel L. Spurlin, Inc. in Florida. - Spurlin Funeral Home (Stanford, Kentucky) · Companies mixed
Spurlin Funeral Home is a family-owned funeral home in Stanford, Kentucky, operating since January 1999 in an 1856 brick building that previously housed the Beazley funeral home. - Spurlin Funeral Home of Lancaster · Companies mixed
Spurlin Funeral Home of Lancaster is a family-owned funeral home in Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky, which opened in September 1996. - Preston Pruitt Spurlin Funeral Home · Companies mixed
Preston Pruitt Spurlin Funeral Home in Danville, Kentucky, traces its origins to 1880. It was renamed Preston Pruitt Spurlin in late 2014 and is owned by Jim and Libby Spurlin, who also own the Spurlin Funeral Home of Lancaster. - Spurlin Industries · Companies mixed
Spurlin Industries, Inc. was a Georgia maker of acrylic whirlpool bathtubs, fiberglass tubs and showers, incorporated in 1984 and based in Palmetto. It had plants in Georgia and Florida and, according to directory data, Tennessee. The Georgia corporation was dissolved in 2017. - Spurlin whirlpool baths · Products & Brands mixed
Spurlin whirlpool baths were acrylic jetted bathtubs made by Spurlin Industries of Palmetto, Georgia, and sold through plumbing wholesalers under model names such as Count, Countess, Duke, Balmoral, Swan and Crown. - Spurlin Oil Co. · Companies weak
Spurlin Oil Co., Inc. is a petroleum bulk-station business in Talladega, Alabama, incorporated in January 1982. - Spurlin Trucking · Companies weak
Spurlin Trucking is a family trucking business in Wake Forest, North Carolina, with federally registered carriers dating from 1997 and 2012. - Spurlin & Spurlin, LLC · Companies weak
Spurlin & Spurlin, LLC is a small law firm in Tifton, Georgia, whose attorneys practice family law, insurance and tort law, and general trial work. LinkedIn gives 2001 as its founding year. - Robert Parker Spurlin (Berryville dentist) · People mixed
Dr. Robert Parker Spurlin (1879–1948) was a Kentucky-born dentist who practised in Berryville, Arkansas, from 1903 and served on its town council. His son, Dr. R. P. Spurlin Jr. (1914–1993), was appointed in 1940 as director of the Arkansas State Board of Health's newly budgeted dental-hygiene sub-division. - W. F. Spurlin (Camden, Alabama jeweler) · History strong
William F. Spurlin (c. 1823–1915) was a jeweler in Camden, Alabama, and a Confederate veteran of the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers. His 1913 Confederate Veteran account of the last issue of Confederate treasury notes is still discussed by currency historians. - Spurlin Ceramics (tiki mugs) · Companies mixed
Spurlin Ceramics was a small Lynwood, California pottery run by designer Stella Bodey (née Spurlin) from about the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s. Working with Oceanic Arts, it made some of the earliest tiki mugs, drink bowls and lamp figures for Polynesian restaurants, and its pieces are now prized collectibles. - Spurlin Cobra's Fang mugs · Products & Brands weak
Two snake-wrapped tiki mugs made by Spurlin Ceramics and credited to Stella Bodey: the Cobra's Fang mug of the Islander restaurant in Los Angeles, long known only from its menu, and the smaller OA Cobra Fang sold by Oceanic Arts. - Spurlin Dairy (Carlsbad, New Mexico) · Companies weak
Spurlin Dairy was a mid-20th-century family dairy in Carlsbad, New Mexico, run by Elmer Odell and Gladys Spurlin alongside their Black River Village ranch; its glass milk bottles, several described with orange pyroglazed "Spurlin Grade A Dairy" lettering, range from a small creamer to half-gallon jugs and now turn up in collector marketplaces. - Spurlin patents · Products & Brands strong
Inventors surnamed Spurlin appear on US patents from 1902 onward, including Hercules Powder Company chemist Harold M. Spurlin, vibratory-feeder engineer William V. Spurlin, tractor-implement designer William G. Spurlin, and later semiconductor, electronics and bath-fixture inventors. - Harold M. Spurlin · People strong
Harold Morton Spurlin (1905–1992) was a cellulose and polymer chemist at the Hercules Powder Company from at least 1929. He was named on some 44 Hercules patents filed between 1929 and 1969, co-edited the standard reference Cellulose and Cellulose Derivatives (2nd ed., from 1954), and received the Anselme Payen Award in 1964. - William V. Spurlin · People strong
William V. Spurlin (1915–2007) was an inventor from Indiana, Pennsylvania, named on about 35 US patent documents for vibratory parts feeders, conveyors, power hammers and weighing equipment, assigned to Syntron, Link-Belt and FMC. - Spurlin trademarks · Products & Brands strong
US trademark filings by Spurlin-named owners are few and mostly short-lived. Tuscaloosa clothier Charles A. Spurlin holds a registered elephant logo, and bath-fixture maker Spurlin Industries held a faucet design mark from 1995 to 2020. - Spurlin collectibles and memorabilia · Products & Brands weak
A guide to collectible objects and products that bear the Spurlin name: Spurlin Dairy milk bottles, Spurlin Sales farm-equipment advertising, Spurlin Ceramics tiki mugs, 1950s Spurlin records, signed art and craft pieces, and modern novelty goods. - Businesses with names similar to Spurlin · Miscellany mixed
Many businesses that turn up in searches for "Spurlin" actually bear the similar surnames Spurlino, Spurling or Spurlock. This page lists the most common ones. - Spurlin, Texas · Places mixed
Spurlin is a ghost town in northwestern Hamilton County, Texas. It was laid out on the Stephenville North and South Texas Railway in 1908–1909 and named for its promoter, the Hamilton merchant John L. Spurlin. It had a church and a business in 1936 and had disappeared from maps by the late 1980s. - Spurlin business and public pages on Facebook · Culture weak
Public Facebook Pages for businesses and public-facing projects that use the Spurlin name, from sign makers, builders and funeral homes to accountants, dentists, a car-restoration shop, a farm and a musician. - Spurlin farms and ranches · Companies mixed
A roundup of farm businesses registered or presented publicly under the Spurlin name, in Oregon, Alabama, Missouri and Indiana. - Spurlin handmade goods and small brands · Products & Brands mixed
A roundup of small present-day businesses selling products under or by the Spurlin name: craft woodworking, ceramics, farm goods and apparel, cited from their own pages and marketplace listings. - Spurlin Homestead Farm (Indiana) · Companies weak
Spurlin Homestead Farm is a small family farm business in the Dugger–Linton area of Greene/Sullivan County, Indiana. It sells products online and posts on Facebook and YouTube. - Spurlin shops on Etsy · Culture weak
Small handmade-goods shops on Etsy connected with the Spurlin name, among them a Georgia woodturning shop, an Alabama seller of Romanian-made porcelain urns and a Colorado art-print shop. - Spurlin Signs & Awnings · Companies weak
Spurlin Signs & Awnings, Inc. is a sign and awning contractor in Dobson, Surry County, North Carolina, founded in 2001. - Spurlin Woodworking (Grovetown, Georgia) · Companies weak
Spurlin Woodworking, LLC is a small woodturning business in Grovetown, Georgia. It makes handcrafted wooden and resin pens and sells them through Etsy and social media. - Spurlin-named trades and service businesses · Companies mixed
A roundup of small Spurlin-named trade businesses, including HVAC, electrical, septic, collision repair, hot-rod restoration, and recycling and demolition firms, as recorded in business directories and state registries. - Wendy Spurlin · People mixed
Wendy Spurlin is a Colorado-based writer, illustrator and editor who founded the small publisher and production company ArmLin House.
References
- ↑ Spurlin Co. — Don Spurlin Construction & Real Estate Group (official site) Official
- ↑ Building Industry Hall of Fame — Home Builders Association of Alabama Official
- ↑ Amos wins outright — Sand Mountain Reporter (Aug. 27, 2008) — 2008 mayoral result; Spurlin second News
- ↑ Don Spurlin — Ballotpedia — Republican candidate, Alabama State Senate District 9, 2010; lost July 13 runoff Reference
- ↑ About — Spurlin Real Estate (Spurlin & Company) Official
- ↑ Mark Spurlin Construction Co. — official site Official
- ↑ Our History — Spurlin Funeral Home of Lancaster Official
- ↑ About Us — Spurlin Funeral Home Official
- ↑ Our History — Preston Pruitt Spurlin Funeral Home Official
- ↑ Knies says goodbyes, hands over General Store's keys — The Interior Journal — June 22, 2017, by Joshua Qualls News
- ↑ Spurlin Industries, Inc. Company Profile, Palmetto, Georgia — Dun & Bradstreet Commercial
- ↑ Spurlin Industries Bathtubs — Ferguson — brand page; showed 0 products when checked 2026-09-24 Commercial
- ↑ Business Information: Spurlin Industries, Inc., control no. J403997 — Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division — record reached by searching the business name; formed 1984-03-19; administratively dissolved 2017-08-24 Government
- ↑ Spurlin Oil Co., Inc. — Alabama Company Directory Commercial
- ↑ Spurlin Trucking — Trucking Company in Wake Forest, North Carolina (USDOT 685977) Commercial
- ↑ SPURLIN & SPURLIN, LLC — LinkedIn Social
- ↑ "Last Issue of Confederate Money," by W. F. Spurlin, Camden, Ala. — Confederate Veteran, vol. 21 (1913), pp. 578–579 — Internet Archive — full volume; the article, the canteen notice and the William N. Stewart obituary were read in the full text News
- ↑ Andrew Jackson Spurlin (1817–1923) (Spurlin-69) — WikiTree — user-contributed profile; biography shared with the Find a Grave memorial Genealogy
- ↑ San Antonio Daily Light, 27 January 1906, p. 5 (Chronicling America, Library of Congress) — "Gould and Party" item from Waco News
- ↑ Dallas T. Herndon, Centennial History of Arkansas, vol. 2 (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1922), pp. 976–977, "R. P. Spurlin, D.D.S." — Internet Archive — biographical sketch Book
- ↑ Richard Spurlin Obituary (1929–2020) — Matthews Funeral Home — Funeral-home obituary; Spurlin Sales Company described as the family farm-equipment business Genealogy
- ↑ Clarence Lee Bomhoff (1933–2012) — Find a Grave Memorial — User-contributed memorial; shop foreman at Spurlin Sales in El Reno until 1971 Genealogy
- ↑ Vintage 13.5" Advertising Metal Thermometer Spurlin Sales MF CASE El Reno, Ok. — WorthPoint (#4837068926) — Archived sale record Commercial
- ↑ SPURLIN SALES FARM EQUIPMENT CASE MASSEY HESSTON Advertising Thermometer — WorthPoint (#1835857079) — Archived sale record Commercial
- ↑ Vintage Ford Tractor Dearborn Farm Equipment Christmas Card El Reno, Oklahoma — WorthPoint (#440794208) — Archived sale record; seller says the card is from Spurlin Sales Co. Commercial
- ↑ Gladys Spurlin Obituary (1914–2014) — LaGrone Funeral Chapel, Ruidoso — Funeral-home obituary; names Spurlin Dairy in Carlsbad, NM Genealogy
- ↑ Spurlin Grade A Dairy Carlsbad N.M. Pyro Quart She's Wise She Buys With Her Eyes — eBay listing — marketplace listing for a used pyroglazed quart bottle (checked 2026-09-24) Commercial
- ↑ Tiki Creator: Spurlin Ceramics — mytiki.life — Collector database Reference
- ↑ Tiki Mug: Spurlin Cobra's Fang Mug — mytiki.life — Collector database Reference
- ↑ Tiki Mug: Vicious Virgin Bowl Arm Lowered — mytiki.life — Collector database Reference
- ↑ Dorset's Heartland Art Studio bolsters regional art — Park Rapids Enterprise (Aug. 4, 2016) News
- ↑ About The Shirt Shop — The Shirt Shop, Tuscaloosa Official
- ↑ US2207076A — Method for the purification of cellulose ethers — Google Patents — Harold M. Spurlin, assignee Hercules Powder Co Reference
- ↑ US2661833A — Article inverting feeding bowls — Google Patents — William V. Spurlin, assignee Syntron Co Reference
- ↑ Spurlin Industries, Inc. Trademarks — Justia Trademarks Reference
- ↑ Spurling Guitars — Home Official
- ↑ Spurling Law Firm (Birmingham, AL) Official
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.