Simpson & Brown got its start when the Brown brothers brought their expertise in waterfront construction from Liverpool in 1671. By 1731 they had started a harbor side construction business in Boston. The abundance of fine timber and coastline moorings lured them to the coast of Maine where they built and repaired roads, waterlines, docks, and constructed buildings.


In 1831 they moved to New York where Cornelius Vanderbilt was financing a construction boom. There, the company established a reputation for quality in the extremely competitive New York/New Jersey waterways construction business. The Brown’s family construction business built bridges, ferry slips, bulkheads, docks, piers, and jetties from New York to Philadelphia. At the dawn of the 20th Century, Charles R. Simpson, a Princeton educated engineer joined the firm and became President. The company changed its name to Simpson & Brown.