The J.C. Phelan Company

The Phelan steeplejack and rigging business dates back to owner Jim Phelan's grandfather, who worked as a steeplejack in Waterford, Ireland, over 100 years ago. Around 1910, Jim's grandfather immigrated to Massachusetts and began working as a steeplejack on flagpoles and other tall structures near Boston.

Jim's father moved from Massachusetts to California in 1949. A few years later, he began working as a steeplejack and rigger in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1965, he began teaching the trade to 13-year-old Jim.

After apprenticing with his father, Jim worked as an ironworker on several projects in Northern California, including the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. Several years later, he left ironwork to work full-time as a steeplejack and rigger.

::PRESS COVERAGE::
·The San Jose Mercury News' photoessay of Jim working on the historic Tribune Tower in Oakland, CA
·Photos and videos on Flickr
·Memphis Fox TV station features Jim repairing a flagpole.
·Channel 10 News in San Diego featured Jim working on a 200-foot flagpole.
·The Seattle PI featured a photo of Jim working on a flagpole in downtown Seattle.
·The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a feature about our company.
·Jim was featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal about his work on a flagpole on a 21-story hotel tower.
·Our company was featured in the inspecting the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.
·Read about Jim's work on the Mark Hopkins Hotel flagpole.
·Our company worked on flagpoles at Arlington National Cemetery.
·Jim was featured on CMT channel's Most Shocking: Ways to Make a Buck.
·And we have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle.

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