History of Worms Lumber & Ready Mix, Inc.

Six Worms employees take a quick break at the plant along the Soo Railroad Line (at the left of the image). Pictured (L to R) are: (kneeling) Harold (Boysie) Worms, Edwin (Rusty) Dierkhissing, (sitting) Tony Notch, (standing) Joseph Steinhofer, Edmund Worms and Harold Dierkhissing.

Mathias Worms

In 1916 Mathias Worms came from Meire Grove, Minnesota, (then known as Meier's Grove) were he had worked in a brick factory for several years, to a little village known as New Munich, Minnesota. He had only a team of horses and a wagon, but his dream was to start manufacturing his own concrete products as soon as had saved enough money.

One year later, construction started for a new Catholic school in New Munich. Most of the material for the school came in by the Soo Railroad Line at the south end of town. This was a chance for Math Worms to make use of his wagon and his team of horses, so he started a dray line to haul construction materials from the railroad to the school's construction site.

By 1919 Math Worms was ready to go into business. He leased land just south of the railroad tracks from the Soo Railroad Line. A corporation was formed to raise enough capital to build a factory and acquire all the necessary equipment. Once complete, the new factory would produce concrete drain tile, concrete building block and silo staves. The corporation was founded as New Munich Concrete Products.

A flatbed truck loaded with concrete pipe in New Munich.

At the time almost all farms were cleared of brush and trees. This left many low places and potholes that needed to be drained. As a result, drain tile was in great demand. Math Worms' factory turned out drain tile by hundreds of thousands of feet each year. At the same time, concrete building block and silo staves were also produced in great numbers.

In 1928 Math Worms took on bridge construction for the State of Minnesota, Stearns County and local townships. This construction included box culverts and cattle passes underneath highways and roads. This new division of his company was named Worms Construction Company.

The company also manufactured concrete culvert in four- and six-foot sections, with sizes ranging from 12" to 30" in diameter. They were deilvered to the construction site.

Ralph Worms

In 1940 the Borgerding Lumber Yard on Main Street in New Munich was for sale. Math Worms saw this as a great opportunity to expand his business, so he and his two sons, Ralph and Edmund, who had already been working with their father for years, bought the lumber yard. The other divisions were merged into one company, Math Worms and Sons.

After Math Worms retired in 1960, the company began looking into the ready-mix concrete industry. That same year Ralph and Ed erected a ready-mix bathcing plant on the site of the concrete factory. The raw cement was brought in by railroad, and the sand and gravel were brought in by trucks. With this new growth, the company changed its name to Worms Lumber and Ready Mix, Inc.

The demand for ready-mix concrete in the central Minnesota area increased rapidly during the 1960's, especially with construction of Interstate 94 through the area. Many bridges and overpasses needed to be constructed. With this demand the company saw another opportunity to expand and in 1968 built and opened a new ready-mix batching plant on the southern edge of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, 12 miles west of their New Munich location.

Edmund Worms

Ralph Worms past away in 1985. Steven Worms, Ed's older son, then joined the company and purchased Ralph's share of the business. Two years later Ed retired and sold his share of Worms Lumber and Ready Mix to his younger son, Matthew Worms.

In the fall of 1987 a ready-mix plant in Long Prairie, Minnesota, closed, and orders for concrete delivery to the area were reaching Worms Ready Mix in Sauk Centre, up to 20 miles away. It was very time-consuming to deliver ready-mix to Long Prairie from Sauk Centre, so that same year Matt and Steve purchased land south of Long Prairie near Highway 71. Worms Ready Mix built a new concrete batching plant on the land and began delivering ready-mix concrete to the Long Prairie area.

In the spring of 1999 the Soo Line property in New Munich was sold to Stearns County. Worms Ready Mix could not renew their lease or buy the land from the county, so Steve and Matt purchased a 12-acre lot south of the old railroad bed on County Road 12 out of New Munich. The old batching plant and all of the buildings were removed in late 1999, and the land was cleared and turned over to the county. On the new plot of land, Worms Lumber and Ready Mix erected a new ready-mix plant and several storage and stocking facilities. The new plant has a computer-automated batching system.