The company was founded by Henry Timken in St. Louis, Missouri in 1899 and incorporated as The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company. A year earlier, in 1898, Timken got a patent for the tapered roller bearing for which the company would become known. At the time, Timken was a carriage-maker in St. Louis and held three patents for carriage springs. However, it was his patent for tapered roller bearings that allowed his company to become successful.

Tapered roller bearings were a breakthrough at the end of the 19th century because bearings used in wheel axles had not changed much since ancient times. They relied on bearings enclosed in a case that held lubricants. These were called "friction bearings" and depended on lubricants to function. Without proper lubrication, these bearings would fail due to excessive heat caused by friction. Timken was able to significantly reduce the friction on his bearings by using a "cup" and "cone" design incorporating tapered bearings which actually rolled, which reduced the load placed on the bearings by distributing the weight and load evenly across the cups, cones, and bearings.

The company moved to Canton, Ohio in 1901 as the automobile industry began to overtake the carriage industry. Timken chose this location because of its proximity to the American car manufacturing centers of Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio, and because it was close to the American steel-making centers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cleveland.

Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indianapolis 500, rode into victory lanes with Timken Bearings for his axles.[2]

In 1916, the company began its steel and pipe making operations in Canton to vertically integrate and have total control over the steel used in its bearings. World War I created an increase in demand for steel, affecting its supply and price in the market.[3] Poor quality steel from suppliers was another important issue, so the company felt the need to make its own steel to ensure the quality of its bearing products. By the late 1990s, the steel-making operations were selling 80% of its output to outside customers, and the operations accounted for one-third of the company's total sales.

[edit] Present day operationsIn 2003, the company acquired its largest domestic competitor in the bearing business—The Torrington Company of Torrington, Connecticut through negotiations by Glenn Eisenberg, currently the CFO of Timken. Torrington had lower-cost operations in the southern United States, and most all of its plants were non-union. Because of these labor cost considerations, Timken announced that it would end its bearing manufacturing operations in Canton within five years and eliminate about 1,500 jobs in the Canton area. Recently, negotiations with the union representing Canton-area workers to lower costs at its facilities fell through when the union rejected the management's plan.

Timken's most recent acquisition in 2007 was the Purdy Corporation of Manchester, Connecticut. Renamed Timken Aerospace Transmissions, it is part of the Timken Aerospace & Defense division headquartered in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

The company also manufactured test equipment for various purposes including properties of lubricating oil; this led to the company lending its name to the industry standard Timken OK Load metric.

The Timken Company's major international competitors in the bearings market are SKF of Sweden, NSK of Japan, and the Schaeffler Group of Germany.

Timken is a member of World Bearing Association (WBA).