Huntington Coach Corporation |
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Transporting The Most Precious Cargo Since 1927 |
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The roots of our company date all the way back to the 1870’s, when Jessie Conklin operated the “Huntington Coach” stagecoach along New York Avenue in Huntington. In 1887, the stagecoach line was replaced by the Huntington Railroad, which stretched from Halesite to Amityville, along what is now Route 110. |
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Founded in 1927 by the Dempsey family of Huntington, Huntington Coach Corporation began operating as a public transit company, serving the town of Huntington. During World War II, the company transported workers to local factories. In 1953, both Huntington Coach and Hendrickson Bus were purchased by Mr. Howard Schenck, who owned a well known Transit bus company in Floral Park, “Schenck Transportation”. |
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Mr. Schenck had enough to worry about with his transit company, and decided to sell the companies, only two years after purchasing them. In November 1955, New York State contacted Mr. Schenck to ask him if it would be alright with the Board of Directors of Huntington Coach Corp if a man named James V. Clifford could start up a transportation business called “Huntington Bus Company”. The state was worried that the name was too close, and could cause confusion and impinge on Huntington Coach’s name recognition. Mr. Schenck had a better idea. He knew this Mr. Clifford well, as he was once a union officer at Schenck Transportation. He contacted Mr. Clifford, and less than a month later, made a deal to sell both Hendrickson Bus and Huntington Coach to the Clifford family. |
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The sale was completed, and James Clifford became President of both companies on January 17, 1956. At the time of this purchase, Huntington Coach operated fifteen transit buses for the town of Huntington, and Hendrickson Bus operated fifteen transit buses and two buses transporting school children for the Bayville-Brookville-Locust Valley Schools |
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Mr. Clifford continued to operate both Hendrickson Bus and Huntington Coach, folding other small transportation companies into the operation along the way, such as Monville Inc., Twin County Buses Inc and Crescent Beach Bus Company. |
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In 1956, Mr.Clifford contracted with the Cold Spring Harbor School District, and the Oyster Bay, East Norwich School District, beginning the company’s transition to School Bus transportation. Two years later, in 1958, Huntington School District was added. Later, Glen Cove (1964), Harborfields (1974), South Huntington (1977), Syosset (1988), Elwood (1989), the Suffolk County Special Needs Pre-School Program (1993) and Manhasset School District (2005) followed. |
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Huntington Coach has maintained an excellent working relationship with all these customers over the years that followed. In addition, the company has performed work for a number of other districts and private and parochial schools. |
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In 1969, Kevin Clifford, the son of James Clifford, became president of Huntington Coach and Hendrickson Bus, the position he still holds to this day. He has overseen an aggressive growth and acquisition policy, taking the fleet from under one hundred vehicles in 1969 to the over seven hundred and fifty vehicles the companies operate |
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today. In 1974 Roy K. Davis Bus (Est. 1940) was purchased and made a subsidiary of Huntington Coach Corp. This acquisition, along with the addition of K&S Transportation in 1988, added greatly to this expansion. In 2000, another company was created, Huntington Coach LLC. |
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As we continue to grow and to improve our procedures and policies, we continue to strive to achieve our corporate mission: To provide safe, dependable, cost-effective service, utilizing the best trained employees and superiorly maintained vehicles. |
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