Founded in 1802 on Silver Street in Waterbury, CT, Abel Porter & Co. began by producing brass and copper items and sewing hardware. Under the new partnership of Leavenworth, Hayden & Scovill of 1811, the company continued to produce brass buttons, including a military contract to produce civil war artillery buttons.

Having been already set up for the production of metal items, J.M.L Scovill and W.H. Scovill began manufacturing silvered plates in 1839, shortly after the presentation of Daguerreotype photography. In about a year, Scovill plates were of equal quality to plates manufactured in Paris.

The Scovills became notable suppliers of photographic supplies after opening a New York storefront in 1846, which carried a full line of cameras, photographic equipment and supplies.

The Scovill company continued to grow; it was incorporated as Scovill Manufacturing Company in 1850 and acquired the American Optical Company in 1867. This broadened their manufacturing line to include the box cameras and stereoscopes produced by American Optical.

Some organizational change followed when, in 1889, an officer took over the company, changing the name to Scovill & Adam's. The company's name changed again, to The Scovill & Anthony Company, when it merged with the E. & H.T. Anthony Company in 1902.

In 1907, this handle was abbreviated to "ANSCO". The company continued to produce photographic equipment under that brand name until 1928, when they merged with the German manufacturer, Agfa.