McElhaney Plumbing has been a household name in the Hub City since 1926, and to celebrate, the McElhaney family and City of Hattiesburg hosted the community at Town Square Park on Saturday, March 14 with a live band, food trucks and community fellowship.
G.H. McElhaney, a master machinist for Komp Equipment, decided in 1926 to go out on his own and create his own plumbing business. What started as McElhaney on foot with a sack on his back to carry his tools from job to job slowly grew into the brick-and-mortar building with a thriving customer base.
This business was built on the backs of the McElhaney family. G.H.’s son, John David McElhaney, Sr. who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, even sent money home from overseas with a letter to explain that he wanted his father to purchase a pipe machine for the business.
As the years went by, so too did the generations of McElhaneys running the plumbing business. John David, Sr. ultimately took over the business after his father, and John David, Jr. took it over from him. John David, Jr. hopes to pass the business along to his son, John David McElhaney, III.
Lynda Balch, the sister of John David, Jr. who has worked in the business for about 30 years, says that customers have come to know the familiar faces at McElhaney.
“You go to these other stores [big-box home improvement stores], and there’s never the same people there,” said Balch. “They don’t get to know you, and it’s disheartening. So, when you’ve been in business as long as we have and have the same people here who know what they’re doing, we can help you with whatever problem you have.”
After generations of McElhaneys spent their childhoods roaming the lots now encompassed by the business, the family feels at home when they go to work. John David, Jr. was even born within that same block. The pride and gratitude expressed by this family for all the years of support from the Hattiesburg community will be on full display for their celebration, and they invite everyone to celebrate with them.
