“Hamilton safe” can mean two quite different things. One is Hamilton Safe, a modern maker of bank safes, vaults and drive-up systems near Cincinnati, founded in 1967. The other is an old safe lettered “Hamilton, O.”, which comes from the city of Hamilton, Ohio, once called the safe capital of the world. Here’s how to tell which one you’re looking at, and what to do with it.
1890
Macneale & Urban opens Hamilton’s first safe works
1891
Mosler moves its works from Cincinnati to Hamilton
1896
Herring-Hall-Marvin breaks ground across the road
1967
Hamilton Safe founded in the Cincinnati area
Key takeaways
- Hamilton Safe was founded in 1967 by Harvey L. Henkel and Robert “Red” Deluse. It makes commercial safes, vaults, safe deposit boxes and pneumatic drive-up systems, and has belonged to the Swedish Gunnebo group since 2012.
- Its head office and plant are now in Milford, Ohio, east of Cincinnati, and it trades as Hamilton by Gunnebo. We have found no link between the company and the old safe makers of Hamilton, Ohio.
- An antique safe lettered “Hamilton, O.” or “Hamilton, Ohio” was made by Mosler, Herring-Hall-Marvin or Macneale & Urban, the three firms that made Hamilton the “safe capital of the world”.
- The town on the door is a dating clue: each of the three firms moved to Hamilton from somewhere else in the 1890s.
In This Article
Which Hamilton safe do you have?
Start with the lettering on the door, the maker’s plate or the label inside. Three different things hide behind the word “Hamilton”, and only in the first is Hamilton the name of the maker.
1967 to today
A modern Hamilton safe
A commercial safe, vault door, depository or GSA security container with a “Hamilton Safe” or “Hamilton Products Group” label. Usually from a bank, pharmacy, shop or government office.
1890 to 2001
A safe made in Hamilton, Ohio
An older safe with a maker’s name followed by “Hamilton, O.”: Mosler, Herring-Hall-Marvin or Macneale & Urban. Here “Hamilton” is the town, not the maker.
Look-alikes
Another Hamilton
Cincinnati is the seat of Hamilton County, Ohio, so “Hamilton County” in a record or advert can mean Cincinnati, not the city of Hamilton. Hamilton Safe Products Co. of Hilliard, Ohio, is a separate dealer that sells Hamilton Safe equipment.1
Hamilton Safe Company at a glance
| Country | United States (Cincinnati area, Ohio) |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Founders | Harvey L. Henkel and Robert “Red” Deluse |
| Addresses | 3143 Production Drive, Fairfield (2003); 7775 Cooper Road, Cincinnati (2010s), with plants at Mason and Amelia; 5063 Champions Way, Milford (from 2022) |
| Brands | Hamilton Safe (safes, vaults, safe deposit boxes, depositories); Hamilton Air (pneumatic drive-up and tube systems, audio and video); Hamilton Products Group (GSA-approved government containers); now Hamilton by Gunnebo |
| Size | About 300 employees and US$70 million sales in 2011 |
| Owner | Gunnebo group, Sweden, since 2012 |
| Sold through | Independent authorised dealers |
Sources: the company’s own websites of 2003, 2015 and 2026, Gunnebo’s 2012 and 2022 announcements and a c.2021 employer profile.2,3,4,5,6
History of the Hamilton Safe Company
Henkel, Deluse and the Cincinnati factories
Hamilton Safe’s own history is short: the company was “founded in 1967 by Harvey L. Henkel and Robert ‘Red’ Deluse” and grew into one of the largest American makers of physical security products, pneumatic tube systems and audio and video systems for banks.3 What it doesn’t explain is the name. We haven’t found any evidence that Hamilton Safe descends from Mosler, Herring-Hall-Marvin or any other safe maker of Hamilton, Ohio, and the company doesn’t claim it.
Its addresses show a firm that moved around the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. In 2003 its website gave 3143 Production Drive, Fairfield, a town in Butler County that borders Hamilton.2 In 2015 the address was 7775 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, and the company said it ran five plants in the Cincinnati area with more than 350,000 square feet of manufacturing space.3 A later employer profile lists offices in Cincinnati and plants at Mason and Amelia.5
By then the business was split into three brands. Hamilton Safe covered the “hard steel”: vaults, safes, safe deposit boxes and night depositories. Hamilton Air made drive-up and point-to-point pneumatic tube systems with their audio and video links. Hamilton Products Group sold to the federal government and the military, including GSA-approved Class 5 and 6 security containers, field safes, weapons storage and IPS containers.3,7,8
Gunnebo buys Hamilton, 2012
On 8 August 2012 the Swedish security group Gunnebo agreed to buy all the shares of the privately owned Hamilton Safe Companies for US$65 million, debt and cash free. Hamilton then had about 300 employees, seven legal entities and five production units in Cincinnati, and 2011 sales of about US$70 million, mainly to American banks and public authorities in the United States and Canada. Gunnebo called it the second largest supplier of physical security products to banks and government in the US.4
Gunnebo also owns Chubbsafes, the brand that carries on the name of the British Chubb safes, so an American bank-safe maker now shares a parent with one of the oldest names in the trade.6 Stranger still, its US website sells a TRTL-60 jewellery safe under the old John Tann name, on a page headed “Made in America”.9
One plant in Milford, 2022
Ground was broken in December 2020 for a new building in Milford, Ohio.5 Gunnebo held the ribbon-cutting on 27 April 2022: a US$21 million, 180,000 square foot plant with more than 200 employees, replacing three separate sites and making safes, vaults and drive-up systems for banks, government and retailers.10 The company now calls itself Hamilton by Gunnebo, with its US headquarters and factory at 5063 Champions Way, Milford, and sells through about 75 dealers, which it calls channel partners.6
Hamilton, Ohio: the safe capital of the world
The older meaning of “Hamilton safe” belongs to an industrial city on the Great Miami River, north of Cincinnati. In 1892 its centennial book boasted that “treasure throughout the world is stored in safes and vaults made in Hamilton”.11 Local historians still call it the safe capital of the world, and the Butler County Historical Society names three makers: Macneale & Urban, Mosler and Herring-Hall-Marvin.12 All three came from somewhere else, lured by local businessmen who raised money for land.13
Macneale & Urban, 1890–1903
Hamilton’s first safe maker wasn’t Mosler. Macneale & Urban grew from the shop of C. Urban, a Cincinnati locksmith who began making safes in 1847 or 1848 under Wilder’s plaster-filled patent. The firm became Urban, Dodds & Co. in 1855, W. B. Dodds & Co. after Urban’s death in 1857, Dodds, Macneale & Urban in 1863 and Macneale & Urban in 1870, run by Herman Urban and the civil engineer Neil Macneale.11 That’s a lot of names for one firm, and any of them could be on your door: the table further down sorts them out. In Cincinnati it was a rival of Hall’s Safe & Lock Co.
A group of Hamilton investors, the Edgewood Finance Co., signed an agreement on 4 January 1889 that brought the firm to ten acres on the city’s west side, at Millville and Edgewood avenues beside the railway. Hamilton operations began on 11 June 1890.13 The works were built for 600 men and 50 to 60 safes a day, plus vault and safe deposit work, and in 1891 the firm became the Macneale & Urban Safe & Lock Co. It made its own combination locks for its safes.11
Discord among the stockholders led the company to seek bankruptcy on 20 January 1903, and Mosler bought the property in February 1907.13 A county history of 1905 still listed “McNeal & Urban Safe Works” among Hamilton’s industries.14 Most of the brick complex was still standing in 2014.13,15
Mosler, 1891–2001
The Mosler brothers’ firms, the Mosler Safe & Lock Co. and the Mosler Bank Safe Co., had outgrown their shops on Cincinnati’s riverfront. After a contract with Hamilton businessmen on 5 July 1890 they moved to Grand Boulevard in East Hamilton, and production began on 12 October 1891.13 “In the removal to Hamilton,” the 1892 centennial book noted, “everything is consolidated into one system.”11 Mosler became the best known of Hamilton’s safe makers, and its vault doors went to banks across the country. The Grand Boulevard plant closed in 1996, and the company, by then run from Berk Boulevard in Hamilton, stopped trading and filed for bankruptcy in August 2001.1617 That October Diebold bought its empty facility on Berk Boulevard.13 The full story, with Fort Knox, Hiroshima and Mosler’s own serial number list, is in our history of Mosler safes.
Herring-Hall-Marvin, 1896 to about 1991
Herring-Hall-Marvin united Herring of New York with Hall’s Safe & Lock Co. of Cincinnati, the Marvin Safe Co. of New York and two Philadelphia firms, according to a Hamilton history of 1901. It broke ground for a 100,000 square foot factory at 1550 Grand Boulevard, across the road from Mosler, on 1 September 1896, after Lazard Kahn, Oakey V. Parrish and Moses Mosler himself persuaded it to come.13 Between 1943 and 1951 the plant machined uranium metal for the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission.18 Diebold bought the company in 1959 and announced in October 1990 a phased shutdown of the Hamilton plant from January 1991.13 See our history of Herring-Hall-Marvin safes.
“Treasure throughout the world is stored in safes and vaults made in Hamilton.”
The Centennial Anniversary of the City of Hamilton, Ohio, 1892
Timeline
- 1889 Hamilton investors sign the agreement that brings Macneale & Urban from Cincinnati.
- 1890 Macneale & Urban starts work in Hamilton on 11 June.
- 1891 Mosler begins production on Grand Boulevard on 12 October.
- 1896 Herring-Hall-Marvin breaks ground opposite Mosler on 1 September.
- 1903 Macneale & Urban seeks bankruptcy; Mosler buys its works in 1907.
- 1959 Diebold buys Herring-Hall-Marvin.
- 1967 Hamilton Safe is founded in the Cincinnati area.
- 1991 Diebold begins closing the Herring-Hall-Marvin plant.
- 2001 Mosler closes; Diebold buys its Berk Boulevard facility in Hamilton.
- 2012 Gunnebo buys Hamilton Safe; a new Milford plant opens in 2022.
Sources for the timeline: Jim Blount’s Hamilton history column, the 1892 centennial book and Gunnebo’s announcements.13,11,4,10
How to identify and date a Hamilton safe
On an old safe, read the whole line of lettering, not just the town. The table below matches the names you’re likely to find with their dates. And if the same maker’s name comes with a Cincinnati address, your safe is usually older than the move to Hamilton.
| Lettering | Maker and date |
|---|---|
| Urban, Dodds & Co.; W. B. Dodds & Co.; Dodds, Macneale & Urban (Cincinnati) | Predecessors of Macneale & Urban, 1855–1870 |
| Macneale & Urban, Cincinnati | 1870–1890 |
| Macneale & Urban (Safe & Lock Co.), Hamilton | 1890–1903 |
| Mosler Safe & Lock Co. or Mosler Bank Safe Co., Cincinnati | Before 1891 |
| The Mosler Safe Co., Hamilton, O. | 1891–2001 |
| Herring-Hall-Marvin Safe Co., Hamilton, O. | From the late 1890s; “Division of Diebold” from 1959 |
| Hamilton Safe; Hamilton Products Group | Modern, 1967 onwards |
Sources: the 1892 centennial book, Blount, and our Mosler and Herring-Hall-Marvin entries.11,13
Hamilton safe serial numbers
There’s no public serial number lookup for modern Hamilton safes. The serial and model are usually on a label or plate on the door or inside the body, often next to the UL burglary or fire rating. Hamilton supports its products through its dealers, and its government arm asked owners for the unit serial number when checking whether a safe or container was still under warranty.19,8 The quickest route is a Hamilton dealer or a safe technician who services commercial safes.
For old safes made in Hamilton, Ohio, Mosler is the only one of the three makers that published a serial number list, and it’s reproduced in our Mosler entry. We know of no published register for Herring-Hall-Marvin or Macneale & Urban, so write the number down anyway and date the safe from its lettering, locks and labels, as explained in how to date an old safe.
Hamilton safe myths and facts
Hamilton Safe is the old Mosler company under a new name.
No. Hamilton Safe was founded in 1967, while Mosler was still trading in Hamilton. Mosler closed in 2001.
A safe marked “Hamilton, O.” was made by Hamilton Safe.
“Hamilton, O.” is the town. Look at the name before it: Mosler, Herring-Hall-Marvin or Macneale & Urban.
Mosler was Hamilton’s first safe maker.
Macneale & Urban started work in Hamilton in June 1890, more than a year before Mosler.
Hamilton made more than half of the world’s safes.
Local historians say Mosler and Herring-Hall-Marvin did, but we have found no production figures that prove it.
Sources for these points: Hamilton Safe’s own history, Blount, and the Butler County Historical Society’s 2015 note on Richard Piland’s Hamilton’s Industrial Heritage.3,13,20
I have a Hamilton safe: what now?
Opening
Locked out?
Neither Hamilton nor the old makers can tell you a combination. Call a qualified safe technician (in the US, a SAVTA member) and have proof of ownership ready. Our guide for anyone locked out of an old safe explains the options, and old safe combination locks explains what’s behind the dial.
Weight
Moving it
Commercial safes with TL ratings and old bank safes are far heavier than they look. Estimate the weight with our safe weight calculator, then read how to move or get rid of an old safe before anyone lifts it.
Value
Is it worth anything?
Hamilton doesn’t publish prices; new safes are quoted by dealers. A used modern safe is valued as working security equipment, by size, rating and lock. Decorated Victorian safes from Hamilton, Ohio, interest collectors. See are old safes worth anything?
Not sure which Hamilton you have? Send us photos of the lettering, labels and serial number and we’ll help you identify and date it.
Old Hamilton safes still turn up in odd places. In 2016 staff at Cincinnati’s Union Terminal found a locked safe, apparently a Macneale & Urban from before the move to Hamilton, buried under blueprints in an engineering tunnel. Nobody knew the combination, so it was to go into storage until it could be opened.21
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Hamilton Safe?
The Gunnebo group of Sweden, which bought the Hamilton Safe Companies in 2012. The business now trades as Hamilton by Gunnebo.
Where is Hamilton Safe located?
Its headquarters and factory have been in Milford, Ohio, east of Cincinnati, since 2022. Earlier addresses were in Fairfield and Cincinnati, with plants at Mason and Amelia.
Is Hamilton Safe the same as Mosler?
No. Mosler was a much older company based in Hamilton, Ohio, from 1891 until its bankruptcy in 2001. Hamilton Safe is a separate firm founded in 1967.
How do I look up a Hamilton safe serial number?
There’s no public lookup, so give the serial and model from the label to a Hamilton dealer. For an old “Hamilton, O.” safe, check the maker’s name first: only Mosler published a serial list.
Why was Hamilton, Ohio, called the safe capital of the world?
Because three big safe makers, Macneale & Urban, Mosler and Herring-Hall-Marvin, moved there in the 1890s, and Mosler and Herring-Hall-Marvin made bank vaults and safes there for most of the 20th century.
Sources:
- Hamilton Safe Products Co., “About us”, Hilliard, Ohio, accessed 26 October 2026. ↩︎
- Hamilton Safe, “Contact Hamilton Safe”, hamiltonsafe.com, archived June 2003 (3143 Production Drive, Fairfield, Ohio). ↩︎
- Hamilton Safe, “About Us”, hamiltonsafe.com, archived 12 February 2015, with the footer “Hamilton Safe is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Gunnebo Security Group” and the address 7775 Cooper Road, Cincinnati. ↩︎
- GIT Security, “Gunnebo acquires the Hamilton Safe Companies”, 8 August 2012, reprinting Gunnebo’s announcement; also reported by Locksmith Ledger, 17 August 2012. ↩︎
- Butler Tech Career Connect, employer profile of Hamilton Safe (written about 2021: Cincinnati offices, Mason and Amelia plants, Milford building begun December 2020). ↩︎
- Hamilton by Gunnebo, “Hamilton History” and “Contact Us” (US headquarters and plant, 5063 Champions Way, Milford, Ohio), accessed 26 October 2026. ↩︎
- Hamilton Safe, “Banking Products: Safes” and “GSA Approved Products”, hamiltonsafe.com, archived 12 February 2015. ↩︎
- Hamilton Products Group, “About Us” and “FAQs”, archived 17 September 2017. ↩︎
- Hamilton by Gunnebo, “John Tann TRTL 60×6 High Security Safe”, accessed 26 October 2026. ↩︎
- Gunnebo, “Gunnebo’s $21 million new Hamilton facility in the US up and running”, press release, 12 May 2022. ↩︎
- D. W. McClung (ed.), The Centennial Anniversary of the City of Hamilton, Ohio, September 17–19, 1891 (Hamilton, 1892), p. 244 and the company sketches of the Mosler Safe & Lock Co. (pp. 262 ff.) and the Macneale & Urban Safe and Lock Company (pp. 293–295), via Internet Archive. ↩︎
- Butler County Historical Society, “The safe capital of the world”, talk by Brad Spurlock, 28 August 2025. ↩︎
- Jim Blount, “Opening of Mosler Safe Co. continued festive mood in 1891 as Hamilton celebrated its centennial year”, Lane Libraries, Hamilton, 2014, compiled from the Hamilton Democrat of 1890–91 and S. D. Cone, A Concise History of Hamilton (1901) (archived copy). ↩︎
- Bert S. Bartlow and others, Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio (1905), industries of Hamilton, via Internet Archive. ↩︎
- Butler County Historical Society, “MacNeale and Urban Safe” (2000), citing “Hamilton and Butler County Historical Highlights”, Hamilton Daily News, 14 October 1970 (archived copy). ↩︎
- Jim Blount, “Mosler Safe Co., linked with banking for much of its history, also prominent contributor to U.S. Cold War defenses”, Lane Libraries, 2014, with recollections of former Mosler employees (archived copy). ↩︎
- ATM Marketplace, “Mosler files for Chapter 11”, 2001. ↩︎
- US Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management, “Hamilton, Ohio, Site”, accessed 26 October 2026. ↩︎
- Hamilton by Gunnebo, “Hamilton Safes” and “Technical Support”, accessed 26 October 2026. ↩︎
- Richard O. Jones, “New book pays tribute to Hamilton’s industrial heritage”, Butler County Historical Society, 30 April 2015, on Richard N. Piland, Hamilton’s Industrial Heritage (Arcadia, 2015). ↩︎
- WVXU, “What’s in this mysterious safe at Union Terminal?”, 1 November 2016. ↩︎
