Services Page
Company History
James Hamilton started the Company in Gallup, New Mexico after working for his brother who had been in the business for several years. Mr. Hamilton started the business with one (1) Army surplus dozer and a determination to do high quality work. The Company's initial focus was to build stock ponds for ranchers and miscellaneous grading for transcontinental gas lines that were being constructed throughout Central New Mexico in the late 1940's and early 1950's.
Within a few years, Mr. Hamilton had increased his fleet to several dozers with pull scrapers and was working for small mining operations building drill site locations for the Mining Industry. As the demand for roads grew in the Southwest, the emphasis became more on roadwork in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The Company's fleet had now grown to such capacity and it began building roads in Arizona, while still serving the Mining Industry around Gallup, Grants, and Northwest New Mexico in the early 1960's. The Company's Corporate Main office was moved from Gallup to Grants in 1956 as the uranium boom was beginning to take off. This time period allowed for a great amount of growth in the Company in terms of scope of the projects and the amount of equipment required to build them. The Company was doing a variety of projects which included working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Forest Service, New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department, municipalities, as well as, mining and private businesses.
During the time from the early to mid-sixties, the Company shifted from highway work in Arizona to New Mexico and concentrated the work forces in New Mexico. In 1967, the Company began construction of twenty-five (25) miles of railroad near Silver City, New Mexico, for Phelps Dodge Corporation. The first contract was on a very tight schedule and the work force worked six (6) days per week, twelve (12) hours per day through the winter of 1967 thru 1968 in order to complete the railroad project ahead of schedule. This project led to several projects with Phelps Dodge Corporation, including plant site development and subdivisions for its Tyrone and Playas, New Mexico and Morenci, Arizona operations.
As the Uranium Industry slowed down in Grants, the Company began to focus its efforts on the Copper Industry and moved its Corporate Headquarters to Silver City, New Mexico in 1972, where it is located today. Primary work was focused in Southwest New Mexico and Southeast Arizona primarily for the Copper Industry in the last part of the Sixties and early Seventies.
In the mid 1970's, the Company, under James and the Management Team's direction, continued to work on projects located in the Southern half of New Mexico and also began to do projects in the Grants area for the Uranium Industry. In 1975, the Company entered into a contract with The Anaconda Company to do the stripping at its large Jackpile Uranium Mine located near Laguna, New Mexico. The Company removed in excess of one hundred million (100,000,000) cubic yards of overburden for Anaconda and various other mines from this time until the 1980's. During this period of time, the fleet of equipment was again expanded to include larger and heavier types of equipment to accommodate the large mining operations in the Uranium Open Pit Mines. In the early 1980's when the Uranium Industry came to a halt, the Company had expanded to specialize in several types of work in highway construction, mining, and heavy civil work, which allowed them to contract with Brown & Root, Stearns-Rogers, and Bechtel Corporation on several projects in New Mexico and Arizona.
In the 1980's, the Company continued to modernize its fleet of machinery and to serve our friends in the Mining and Highway Industry. Beginning in the late 1980's and early 1990's, the Company also branched out into reclamation projects, often reclaiming evaporation ponds and mill sites that it had been involved in with the initial construction of the facility. During 1994, the Company entered into a large reclamation project with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) to reclaim the old Anaconda, Bluewater Mill Site, just West of Grants, New Mexico. The Company worked with ARCO, its engineering firm, and Federal and State agencies, including the National Regulatory Commission during the duration of this project. The project was completed ahead of schedule and for less money than was anticipated.
In the 1990's through 2007, James Hamilton Construction received some very special awards by the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department and National Asphalt Pavement Association (N.A.P.A.). The awards were for Statewide "Smoothness" and "Quality" on various projects. The projects possessed exceptional workmanship and a high level of smoothness and rideability.
James Hamilton retired in May 1997, after selling the Company to Carroll Hamilton, his daughter, and Charles Hamilton, his son. Carroll and Charles Hamilton have continued to operate James Hamilton Construction Co. with the same Management Team and aggressive approach.
The Company today has in its employment more than five hundred (500) employees in New Mexico and Arizona primarily involved in projects for the New Mexico Department of Transportation, mining industry, and private owners using the most modern methods to complete work for our customers on time and within budget. We have maintained a long lasting working relationship with several of the same customers for the past forty (40) years. The Management Team, has a determination to continue the vision of the Corporation in a manner consistent with completing the work on time, within budget, and with the highest quality workmanship available.
