Peter Manson, an enterprising Swedish immigrant, put together a floating pile driver just after the turn of the century, and by 1905 embarked full-time into pile driving and waterfront construction around Puget Sound.

Early jobs started with "mosquito fleet" docks, fish traps and bulkheads, and grew to ferry landings, small bridges and foundations. In time, it became evident that larger equipment was necessary for the new structures made of steel and concrete. Manson gradually, and then more rapidly, expanded the size and numbers of its floating equipment.

The work that once kept the company busy in Puget Sound was not sufficient to occupy its additional equipment and more time was spent looking for work in Alaska, Oregon, California, and a number of other places around the world. Offices in Northern and Southern California and more recent operations in the Gulf of Mexico and on the East Coast, plus temporary offices in other locations, have kept the contractor busy.

The original pile driver grew to five scow pile drivers. Today the firm has 19 floating derricks, six hydraulic dredges, three hopper dredges, dozens of barges, 12 towboats and dredge tenders, and miscellaneous equipment like pile hammers and clamshell buckets. Over land, the company has added truck cranes, crawler cranes, bulldozers, loaders, trucks and other equipment.

The leadership of the company has been family-oriented for 95 years, beginning with Peter Manson, then his son, Harry Manson, then Elmer Edwards, followed by Peter Haug. The company is now directed by Chairman E.P. Paup, President Glenn Edwards and general manager Eric Haug. Many of the employees of Manson Construction are second, third and fourth generation workers.