At the corner of Main and Sixth streets in downtown Sharpsville, PA, sits a historic two story brick office structure that exudes turn of the century success. Its high ceilinged lobby features rich wood paneling and decorative archways. At first glance, it reminds one somewhat of an exquisite old bank. Since this structure with its attractive but ancient décor abuts a monstrously sized collection of equally ancient looking high-bay manufacturing buildings, it is very apparent that the facility was not and is not a bank. It was obviously the office of a large and successful enterprise. Displayed throughout the office are prints (or engineering drawings) of the "Sharmeter" branded gasoline pumps. The pumps themselves were topped with white glass globes that illuminated the "Sharmeter" name. They stood (and perhaps some few are standing still) as lone sentinels outside the tiny filling stations which seemed to sprout like mushrooms across the national countryside of the early 20 th century. The company was originally founded as Sharpsville Boiler Works in 1860. Soon the infant oil industry started in nearby Titusville. Sharpsville Boiler Works was pulled into the petroleum boom and a long association with the emergent petro-chemical business. Indeed, the company fabricated the first iron tank used by Colonel Drake of the oil industry.

The Civil War and the expansion of the iron and steel industry enabled the company to further diversify its products. In the Archives of the Sharpsville Historical Society, there is a picture of the facility taken during the Civil War. It shows draft horses pulling a wagon through the huge doors at the West end of the plant. Mounted on the wagon were metal fabrications that were actually components for fighting ships being built during the Civil War. The growth of the automobile industry required the fabrication of storage tanks for refineries, bulk and service stations, and tanks for transporting petroleum products. One of the company’s early achievements of national prominence, was the manufacture of the first motor driven meter pumps now found in all gasoline retail outlets. Thus the many framed "drawings" of the famous "Sharmeter" branded gas pumps that one sees throughout the offices. However, despite over a century of prosperity even during the most difficult economic periods, the company's fortunes began to change. The late 1970's and early 1980's amplified the challenges. The once roaring fires of prosperity at Sharpsville Steel Fabricators had dwindled to a mere flickering match. And then, such as happens only once in a hundred years, a faint breeze stirred through what had once been the mighty Sharpsville Boiler Works. It quietly found its way to that last, once flickering match and sparked the tiniest ember of life. But there was too much life, too much history, too much a continuum of success for that last minute spark to have grown dark eternally, and irretrievably. Thus with the gentle stroking of that faint breeze, the last remaining ember did indeed become a flicker. And the flicker, in turn became a flame. Life returned once again to the proud structure at Main and Sixth Streets. Yes, it was by then somewhat faded and in need of repair, but the office building and plant at 600 Main Street was once again filled with life as trucks rolled in and workmen scattered like their counterparts had for several generations before. Utensco, who was a large provider of stainless steel commercial kitchenware and containers, had purchased the facility and re-christened it, "Sharpsville Container." The late 1980's and early 1990's saw a lot of growth and activity. However, financial issues accompanied this growth and Utensco decided to sell . Sharpsville Container had two further successions of ownership in the mid-1990's when it was owned by a local business family. In 1997, the company was sold to The Reserve Group located in Akron, Ohio. The Reserve Group (TRG) with about $600,000,000 in annual sales, specialized in purchasing distressed companies at a reasonable cost and then successfully turning them around. Sharpsville Container, under this new management, has recently undergone extensive remodeling in the office building and facility upgrades. There is once again a sense of pride and ownership in these historic buildings. Today, Sharpsville Container manufactures high quality, stainless steel vessels for a multitude of applications ranging from pharmaceutical, to food storage, to specialty gas.