Fuss & O'Neill History

Roots in the Past
Fuss & O’Neill traces its roots back to 1924 when Hayden L. Griswold, Sr. started his own surveying practice. Griswold was a Rocky Hill native and 1916 civil engineering graduate of Cornell. He came to Manchester after serving in World War I to work as a surveyor for the Cheney Brothers Silk Manufacturing Company. Griswold Engineering grew into a father-son business and through the 1960's surveyed much of the Town of Manchester and the surrounding area.

The 1970's were a period of company growth, transitioning to additional services including land development, transportation and structures, municipal water and sewer systems, and water resources. Walter S. Fuss, a former Manchester Town Engineer and Public Works Director, joined the firm in 1967 and shortly thereafter the company became known as Griswold & Fuss. In 1973, another former Manchester Public Works Director, William O'Neill, joined the company. In the late 1970's, after the retirement of Hayden Griswold, Sr., the company changed its name once again, this time to the currently known Fuss & O'Neill.

By the early 1980's, the company was making its own name and had grown to over 40 employees. Continued growth included expansion into the emerging fields of environmental compliance and permitting, and site assessment and remediation.

On September 14, 1985, Hayden Griswold, Sr., the founder of Fuss & O'Neill, passed away at the age of 93. Two years after the death of Griswold, and a little more than 60 years after the founding of his company, Fuss & O'Neill renovated and moved into the former Cheney Brothers headquarters, where Griswold had once practiced his profession.

Regional growth and expansion was the next focus for the company. Over a 20-year period, offices opened along the East Coast. Additionally, clients required our staff to work on projects in all regions of the country as well as internationally.

Regional Office Growth

Innovative and technological advances by the engineering profession continued into the 21st century and Fuss & O'Neill kept pace by expanding its services to include Geographical Information Services (GIS), Design-Build, Toxic and Hazardous Materials, Total Productive Maintenance, and Energy Services. With our growth in services and employees, we required additional space at our headquarters in Manchester.  In order to meet the space demands, we completely renovated the former mill building known as the "Clark Building".  This neighboring building to our headquarters has been renovated into office space and was LEED certified in August 2011.

Green design. Sustainability. Progress. Something new to us? Not really. It has always been in Fuss & O'Neill's blood.