William Blackmon Jr., fresh from service in World War II, started an upholstery cleaning business with college buddy Scott Mooring.
The two-man operation, known simply as Blackmon Mooring, grew into a worldwide company that developed a patented steam-cleaning process and evolved into a major player in the post-catastrophe restoration business.
William G. “Floppy” Blackmon graduated from North Side High School in 1938. He was offered a scholarship to Texas A&M but took the opportunity to play football at TCU that Dutch Meyer had offered him, impressed with TCU’s chances of playing for a national championship. He also played baseball and basketball, where his height was a considerable advantage on the hard court. His roundball career flourished, and Blackmon lettered for 1940-41, 1941-42 and 1942-43 seasons, the last of which he also served as captain. Following graduation, Blackmon joined the Navy V-7 program and participated in the Pacific Theater during World War II, specifically in the battles of Saipan, Taiwan, and Okinawa.
Not long after returning, Mr. Blackmon started this company along with Mr. Mooring in 1948 as a furniture and dye shop. His wife grew up in the industry, so it seemed to be a good fit. However, everything changed in May of 1949 when Fort Worth, Texas received over 11 inches of rain overnight. Mr. Blackmon and his team sprang into action providing the devastated community flood damage restoration. It was then, Blackmon Mooring was truly born.
When the flood waters receded, the company began building the business to offer homeowners affordable carpet cleaning, air duct cleaning, and upholstery cleaning. One of the first jobs Blackmon Mooring had was upholstery cleaning at the Texas Christian University Stadium. In addition to regular cleaning, Blackmon Mooring offered home restoration services following disasters such as fires and floods. The two men, with the help of inventor Bill Wisdom, developed the Steamatic carpet-cleaning machine in the late 1960s and patented it. The machine was so revolutionary that the men began selling franchises nationwide.
Eventually, the company began offering commercial flood damage restoration and commercial fire damage restoration. The company continued to grow and expand, developing specialized processes to provide customers with the most effective cleaning and restoration techniques available.
In 1981, the company expanded its reach globally with the addition of the BMS CAT division and since then, the company has responded to community-wide and large-scale fire damage, flood damage and storm damage throughout the world. One of the division’s first projects was the Hilton in Las Vegas, which sustained significant damage due to a fire in 1981. While other companies were estimating that it would take six months to restore the property, BMS CAT performed the project in 29 days.
A few years later, BMS Global was formed to provide transportation disaster services following catastrophes. This division of the company has responded to major transportation disaster throughout the world including “The Miracle on the Hudson,” Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco and the recent Amtrak derailment.
Today, the company follows the same principles that it was founded upon, and always remembers that the customer is the cornerstone of the business. The teams from Blackmon Mooring, BMS CAT, and BMS Global go to great lengths to make sure customers are not just satisfied, but happy with the services provided. After all, our founding fathers’ reputation depends on it.