Tompkins Corporate History
100 Years of Excellence in Building

Our corporate history dates back to 1911, when Charles and Lida Tompkins founded our company under the name Chas. H. Tompkins Company. During the early years of the organization, the Tompkins name became synonymous with delivering quality general construction services throughout the Washington DC Area and continues to maintain this designation today. The firm has built and renovated many of Washington’s finest commercial and institutional addresses. These projects instigated Tompkins to establish and foster a long standing relationship with the U.S. Federal Government, as well as both public and private entities.

For nearly a century, Tompkins Builders has built more than 50 million square feet of offices for countless government agencies and institutions, such as the National Geographic Foundation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Security and Exchange Commission and Food and Drug Administration. Tompkins also has a legacy of successfully conserving many examples of our country’s heritage through detail orientated efforts in historic restoration and preservation. A sample of Tompkins’ legacy projects includes the following: the Reflecting Pool and National Sculpture Garden on the National Mall, the East and West Wings of the White House and the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art. Additionally, Tompkins restored the U.S. Capital Building to its former grandeur and constructed the Chapel at Arlington Cemetery. One of the most visible illustrations of our work, however, is the National World War II Memorial.

Supplementing Tompkins’ prowess within the federal sector of construction, the firm has also proved their ability to be a capable and client–centered general contractor in the private sector. Tompkins has constructed luxury and affordable housing apartments and condominium buildings, as well as mixed–use facilities that combine components of residential, commercial and retail use. Moreover, the firm has built numerous hotels and hospitality structures. While Tompkins excels in the residential and hospitality industries, services are often sought by customers seeking solutions for special use facility challenges as well. Thus, Tompkins’ specialized services are well known in the communications, secure, data center and laboratory industries.

There is no higher achievement and honor in the construction industry then to be selected as the builder of a national museum, memorial or marquee hotel, particularly when construction takes place in downtown Washington, DC. In this regard, there exists perhaps no other contractor in the nation that has the extensive resume Tompkins enjoys.

In 2003, Tompkins Builders became a wholly–owned subsidiary of Turner Construction Company, the largest general contracting firm in the country. This acquisition has provided Tompkins the opportunity to improve our already exemplary reputation in and around the Washington DC Area with the expertise and resources of a nationally–owned construction management firm. As a Turner business unit, Tompkins has all the resources of the nation’s largest building contractor and the knowledge, relationships and experience of a local general contractor.

Today, Tompkins remains one of the largest contractors serving the Washington DC Metropolitan Area and is working on such prestigious projects as the MedImmune Area 6 Vivarium and Laboratory in Gaithersburg, MD, the martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, DC and the Army National Guard Readiness Center Addition in Arlington, VA. Tompkins has most recently been awarded the Prince George’s Community College Center for health Studies in largo, MD, Project Acquarius in Hershey, PA and the Modernization and Renovation of Federal Office Building #8 in Washington, DC (a very high–profile project for the U.S. Government and the firm is thrilled to be a part of yet another large–scale renovation project).