C.T. Brayton & Sons was established by Carl Towne Brayton and his sons, Franklin and Donald, in 1946. The company’s office was based out of Don’s house. Don provided the estimates while Frank focused his time running the field operations.
Those early years were quite different than today! In 1962, Frank and Don’s wages were $120 weekly and the Union scale for carpenters was just $4.31/hour. Major commercial and school projects were bid for $200,000. The majority of the company’s work was in school, commercial, and retail construction. C.T. Brayton & Sons built schools throughout the State of California, and major commercial and retail projects in our hometown of Escalon included the Petri Winery, Cadlolo Winery, Escalon Packers, and Pioneer Memorial Hospital. Field Leaders were Clarence York, Jim Downer, Al Harper, Lee Naney and Joe Silveira.
In 1969 the company incorporated and became C.T. Brayton & Sons, Inc. The office was moved from Don’s house to an annex adjacent to the home of Carl and Sadie.
In 1975, after a long battle with Multiple Sclerosis, Frank passed away.
Don was joined by Frank’s son, Robert (Bob) Brayton in 1975. Prior to joining the company, Bob graduated from Fresno State and spent three years with C.S. Plumb Co. and one with F & H Construction. Don and Bob performed the estimating and project management and Bob Kappral, who had already been with Don, continued to coordinate
the fi eld operations. Superintendents were Clarence York, Vern Jansen, Jim Fultz and Larry DeRuiter. They were assisted by a highly resourceful, unique field laborer named Dale Griffith.
After recuperating from a successful bypass surgery, Don was struck by cancer and passed away in 1982.

Bob carried on the Brayton heritage and, in the late 1980’s, C.T. Brayton & Sons gathered its momentum. The superintendent ranks grew. The work continued in school, commercial, and industrial construction and expanded into concrete tilt-up buildings. As the workload expanded, our equipment and supply yards grew exponentially to handle the demand. Tom Manly came on board as our first Equipment Manager, and Superintendents Jerry Cantrell, Bill Thomson, Francois Ziesel, John Friend, and Verlyn Wright joined the team.
By 1990, C.T. Brayton & Sons had outgrown the existing offices at the annex and expansion was imminent. In keeping with family tradition, the Escalon residence of Carl and Sadie, originally built in the early 1900’s, underwent extensive renovation to house the everexpanding company.
Today, the company remains headquartered in the same historic building on Jackson Ave. in Escalon. The home office now houses our Accounting Division with Controller, Vicky Siegfried, leading a staff of eight. The Project Management team is housed in the neighboring annex which has twice undergone renovations due to the growth of the company. Currently, the annex houses eight Project Managers, an Equipment manager, and a Construction Safety Manager.
In 2011, C.T. Brayton & Sons welcomed Ross Brayton, to the Project Management team. After graduating from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Business Management, Ross played two years of professional baseball with the San Diego Padres, followed by four years in the construction field serving his apprenticeship and turning out as a Union carpenter. Proudly we are now four generations strong!
For over seventy-five years, C.T. Brayton & Sons, Inc. has made it a practice to recognize and celebrate the quality of the employees we retain. They are pivotal to our success.
We are proud to say that our superintendents average more than twenty years with the company. The company provides safety programs and specialized training investments to help each member of the team perform at their highest level.
As we look forward to the upcoming years, we stand focused on the well-being of our employees and their families, and the satisfaction of our clients!