C4IP is recognizing Augustine Sackett (1841-1914), whose invention of gypsum wallboard, or drywall, transformed building construction across America and around the world.
- Sackett was born in Connecticut in 1841, attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and served as an assistant engineer in the Union Navy during the Civil War before settling in New York City as an inventor and entrepreneur.
- Sackett patented “Sackett Board,” the first paper-faced gypsum panel, in 1894, creating the precursor to modern drywall.
- Sackett also designed machinery to mass-produce the material and founded the Sackett Plaster Board Company to commercialize it.
- The U.S. Gypsum Company acquired Sackett’s company in 1909 and refined Sackett Board into the gypsum wallboard still used today.
- Sackett’s drywall presented notable advantages in construction speed — taking weeks off of traditional building schedules — and resource efficiency, which caused its popularity to skyrocket during World War II when companies were forced to ration lumber.
- It also provides advantages over traditional brick construction in fire resistance and energy efficiency.
- Today, drywall has become a ubiquitous feature of American buildings: The average new home in the United States contains more than 6,000 feet of drywall, according to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
- The market for drywall continues to grow, with an estimated global value of nearly $50 billion and annual U.S. sales of over $3 billion.