HR Kirkland

Manufacturers of annunciators, fire alarm panels, and visual signal systems since 1930

History of the H.R. Kirkland Company

" ...just two weeks later he was back with samples of a new design.  A design which met the thorough test with flying colors..."

The H.R. Kirkland Company, Inc. was established in 1930 in Morristown, New Jersey. The company was run by Harold Kirkland, who opened the company selling various visual signaling devices. In 1932, Mr. Harold Kirkland received a patent for his Signal Lamps, and in 1938 was featured in Business Week Magazine for his "Bulls-I-Unit" signaling device. A variation of these signaling devices is still sold today. During World War II, the H.R. Kirkland Company, Inc. developed a CD00 Cockpit Spotlight, which was used on combat aircraft, specifically the Curtiss-Wright P-40 "Warhawk", also known as the "Tomahawk" by the RAF. In 1955, Mr. Kirkland's son, Bruce, began working in the company.  At that time, the visual signaling devices progressed into Annunciators.  Bruce Kirkland is now the president of the Kirkland Company, and continues the progressive designing of annunciators, Smoke Control Panels, and Custom Panels. In 1982 the company moved to Colorado where it is located today.

Click here to read an article about the cockpit lig
ht designed by Harold Kirkland, from the Morristown newspaper dated Wednesday, September 22, 1943.