Our History

Hylka Construction had a very humble beginning. In 1945, Francis Hylka Sr. returned from World War II as a decorated veteran of the United States Army. Fran worked at numerous jobs including his father’s large commercial chicken and egg farming business, and a local woolen mill. In 1948, he realized that he was not passionate about chickens, their eggs, nor working indoors at the local mills and he decided to take a drive to the local International Truck dealership. Within hours, he was the proud owner of a slightly used International KB-8 Dump Truck. With that, Hylka Construction was born.

Within a few months, Fran purchased a gravel pit in South Charlton. This pit had a rock crusher, a screening plant, and copious amounts of gravel onsite. His company was growing. In addition to his dump truck he added a cable shovel and a crane. Fran focused on site work, both commercial and residential, and used the materials from his gravel pit on these jobs. Fran was a man of many hobbies; he enjoyed carpentry and woodworking, he raised beef cows, and he harvested hay from his farm in Dudley, all while planting the roots of Hylka Construction with hard work and determination.

Fran Jr. and Jonathan Hylka onsite

Francis Hylka Jr., or “Babe”, began working with his father at a very early age. They continued to take on a wide variety of commercial and residential projects, while adding to their modest trucking fleet. They also added dozers and loaders to their equipment fleet. They were known to do good work at a fair price, and were honest men to deal with. Fran Jr., however, always had his eye on the gravel pit, and by the early 1980’s was finally ready to commit to running the pit full time.

Fran Jr. designed, built, and operated the first washplant by early 1984. This allowed him to produce various washed sand and stone products and feed the growing Southern Worcester County aggregate market. It was at this point that Hylka Construction ceased all site work operations and focused solely on producing sand and gravel from the South Charlton (Potter Village Road) location. Fran Jr. quickly gained a reputation for producing high quality aggregate products and selling them at a fair price.

Jonathan Hylka became the third generation of Hylka’s to work for the company. Together with his father they continue to be known throughout the aggregate industry for quality products and exceptional service.

Today Hylka Construction is a team of men and women that continue the legacy of hard work and determination that was begun by Fran Sr. many years ago. Hylka has a fleet of equipment and trucks that he would never have imagined back in 1948. Hylka Construction’s customers include Asphalt Plants, Ready-Mix Concrete plants, commercial building contractors, as well as homeowners. With hard work, determination, and honesty as a foundation, Hylka Construction continues to thrive more than 70 years after Fran Sr. bought that first truck.