Boston Manufacturing Company
Encyclopedia
The Boston Manufacturing Company was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston
merchant, in partnership a group of investors known as The Boston Associates
, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. Boston Manufacturing Company gathered many of their trade secrets from the earlier horse-drawn Beverly Cotton Manufactory
, of Beverly, Massachusetts
, of 1788. While the Rhode Island System that followed was famously employed by Samuel Slater
, the Boston Associates would improve upon it in what would become known as the "Waltham System", an idea that would later be successfully copied at Lowell, Massachusetts
and several other industrial cities established in the 19th century. It would soon change the face of New England
and its economy from one based largely on agriculture to one dominated by industry.
and Moses Brown
invented the first horse-drawn cotton mill in Beverly, Massachusetts
to 1793, when Samuel Slater
established the first water-powered successful textile "spinning" mill in America
at Pawtucket, Rhode Island
, harnessed water power had been operating machinery to process cotton fiber into yarn, which would then be outsourced to small weaving shops and private homes where it would be woven into cloth on hand-operated looms. By 1810, dozens of "spinning" mills dotted the New England
countryside. However, cloth production was still fairly slow with this system.
While on a visit to Lancashire
, England
in 1810, Francis Cabot Lowell studied the workings of the successful British textile industry. He paid particular attention to the power loom, a device for which there was yet no equal in America. He knew that increased cloth production in the United States
depended on such a machine. Upon his return trip to Boston
in 1812, he committed the plans to memory, disguising himself as a country farmer, since the British banned export of the new technology at the time.
In September 1813 The Boston Associates
purchased the Boies Paper Mill site in Waltham
. With a ten foot drop in the nearby Charles River
, it was an ideal location to establish the new factory they envisioned.
to develop and construct the machinery and to supervise the construction of the new mill.
After over a year of trials, Moody was able to bring Lowell's description of the power loom to fruition, making his own advancements along the way. It would be the perfection of Moody's power loom that would be the real "revolution" in American industry. For the first time, all phases of cloth production could be brought under one roof. Moody also developed a system of power transmission
using a series of leather belts and pulleys powered by water turbines, that would prove much more efficient than the shaft and gear system then in use. The first mill was completed in late 1814, after almost a year of construction. Jacob Perkins was in charge of installing the first waterwheel, dam, flumes and raceway.
By early 1815, the cloth was sold. Production expanded quickly, as did profits. In 1816 a second larger mill was built next to the first mill. In addition to producing cloth, it also produced textile machinery for other companies. The two mills were later connected in 1843, as part of a planned expansion.
The power loom was soon copied by many other New England
area mills, and modified and perfected along the way. Francis Cabot Lowell died in 1817, at age 42.
The Boston Associates
attempted to create a well-controlled system of labor which varied from the harsh conditions observed while in Lancashire
. The mill owners recruited young Yankee farm girls from the surrounding area to come work the machines at Waltham. The mill girls, as they came to be known, lived in boarding houses provided by the company and were supervised by older women, and were subject strict codes of conduct. They worked approximately eighty hours per week. The workers would wake to the factory bell at 4:40 in the morning. They would report to work at 5:00 and have a half hour breakfast break at 7:00 a.m. They would then work until the half hour to forty-five minute lunch break at noon. At 7:00 p.m. the factory would shut down and the workers would return to their company houses. This routine was followed six days a week. This system became known as the Waltham System.
By the early 1820s the water power of the Charles River
at Waltham
was just about maximized, and the investors sought a new location to build even more mills. As the Merrimack Manufacturing Company
, in 1822 they copied the Waltham System at the new city of Lowell, Massachusetts
on a much larger scale. The same group of investors would later establish Lawrence, Massachusetts
, Manchester, New Hampshire
and several other new industrial centers throughout New England during the first half of the 19th century. The factory methods introduced at Waltham would also be copied by other industries in the years to follow.
The Waltham site would be expanded again during the late 19th century. The original mills were connected, the gable roofs removed, and additional floors were added with flat roofs. The Boston Manufacturing Company closed in 1930.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1977. Some of worker housing
has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the site is occupied by the Charles River Museum of Industry
and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
-subsidized housing for seniors.
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
merchant, in partnership a group of investors known as The Boston Associates
The Boston Associates
The Boston Associates was a term created by historian Vera Shlakmen in Economic History of a Factory Town, A Study of Chicopee, Massachusetts to describe a loosely linked group of investors. They included Nathan Appleton, Patrick Tracy Jackson, Abbott Lawrence, and Amos Lawrence, often related...
, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. Boston Manufacturing Company gathered many of their trade secrets from the earlier horse-drawn Beverly Cotton Manufactory
Beverly Cotton Manufactory
The Beverly Cotton Manufactory was the first cotton mill to be built in America, and the largest cotton mill to be built during its era. It was built hoping for economic success, but reached a downturn due to technical limitations of the then early production process and limitations of the machines...
, of Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
, of 1788. While the Rhode Island System that followed was famously employed by Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...
, the Boston Associates would improve upon it in what would become known as the "Waltham System", an idea that would later be successfully copied at Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
and several other industrial cities established in the 19th century. It would soon change the face of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and its economy from one based largely on agriculture to one dominated by industry.
Origins
Since 1787 when Samuel SlaterSamuel Slater
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...
and Moses Brown
Moses Brown
Moses Brown was a co-founder of Brown University and a New England abolitionist and industrialist, who funded the design and construction of some of the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution, including Slater Mill.-Early life:Brown was the son of...
invented the first horse-drawn cotton mill in Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
to 1793, when Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater
Samuel Slater was an early English-American industrialist known as the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution", or the "Father of the American Factory System" because he brought British textile technology to America. He learned textile machinery as an apprentice to a pioneer in the British...
established the first water-powered successful textile "spinning" mill in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 71,148 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth largest city in the state.-History:...
, harnessed water power had been operating machinery to process cotton fiber into yarn, which would then be outsourced to small weaving shops and private homes where it would be woven into cloth on hand-operated looms. By 1810, dozens of "spinning" mills dotted the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
countryside. However, cloth production was still fairly slow with this system.
While on a visit to Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1810, Francis Cabot Lowell studied the workings of the successful British textile industry. He paid particular attention to the power loom, a device for which there was yet no equal in America. He knew that increased cloth production in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
depended on such a machine. Upon his return trip to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1812, he committed the plans to memory, disguising himself as a country farmer, since the British banned export of the new technology at the time.
In September 1813 The Boston Associates
The Boston Associates
The Boston Associates was a term created by historian Vera Shlakmen in Economic History of a Factory Town, A Study of Chicopee, Massachusetts to describe a loosely linked group of investors. They included Nathan Appleton, Patrick Tracy Jackson, Abbott Lawrence, and Amos Lawrence, often related...
purchased the Boies Paper Mill site in Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
. With a ten foot drop in the nearby Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
, it was an ideal location to establish the new factory they envisioned.
Revolution
The group hired a skilled mechanic named Paul Moody of AmesburyAmesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Though it officially became a city in 1996, its formal name remains "The Town of Amesbury." In 1890, 9798 people lived in Amesbury; in 1900, 9473; in 1910, 9894; in 1920, 10,036; and in 1940, 10,862. The population was 16,283 at...
to develop and construct the machinery and to supervise the construction of the new mill.
After over a year of trials, Moody was able to bring Lowell's description of the power loom to fruition, making his own advancements along the way. It would be the perfection of Moody's power loom that would be the real "revolution" in American industry. For the first time, all phases of cloth production could be brought under one roof. Moody also developed a system of power transmission
Power transmission
Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to performing useful work.Power is defined formally as units of energy per unit time...
using a series of leather belts and pulleys powered by water turbines, that would prove much more efficient than the shaft and gear system then in use. The first mill was completed in late 1814, after almost a year of construction. Jacob Perkins was in charge of installing the first waterwheel, dam, flumes and raceway.
By early 1815, the cloth was sold. Production expanded quickly, as did profits. In 1816 a second larger mill was built next to the first mill. In addition to producing cloth, it also produced textile machinery for other companies. The two mills were later connected in 1843, as part of a planned expansion.
The power loom was soon copied by many other New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
area mills, and modified and perfected along the way. Francis Cabot Lowell died in 1817, at age 42.
The Waltham System
The Boston Associates
The Boston Associates was a term created by historian Vera Shlakmen in Economic History of a Factory Town, A Study of Chicopee, Massachusetts to describe a loosely linked group of investors. They included Nathan Appleton, Patrick Tracy Jackson, Abbott Lawrence, and Amos Lawrence, often related...
attempted to create a well-controlled system of labor which varied from the harsh conditions observed while in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. The mill owners recruited young Yankee farm girls from the surrounding area to come work the machines at Waltham. The mill girls, as they came to be known, lived in boarding houses provided by the company and were supervised by older women, and were subject strict codes of conduct. They worked approximately eighty hours per week. The workers would wake to the factory bell at 4:40 in the morning. They would report to work at 5:00 and have a half hour breakfast break at 7:00 a.m. They would then work until the half hour to forty-five minute lunch break at noon. At 7:00 p.m. the factory would shut down and the workers would return to their company houses. This routine was followed six days a week. This system became known as the Waltham System.
By the early 1820s the water power of the Charles River
Charles River
The Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
at Waltham
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
was just about maximized, and the investors sought a new location to build even more mills. As the Merrimack Manufacturing Company
Merrimack Manufacturing Company
The Merrimack Manufacturing Company was the first of the major textile manufacturing concerns to open in Lowell, Massachusetts, beginning operations in 1823.- History :...
, in 1822 they copied the Waltham System at the new city of Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
on a much larger scale. The same group of investors would later establish Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Lawrence is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States on the Merrimack River. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 76,377. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and North Andover to the southeast. It and Salem are...
, Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
and several other new industrial centers throughout New England during the first half of the 19th century. The factory methods introduced at Waltham would also be copied by other industries in the years to follow.
The Waltham site would be expanded again during the late 19th century. The original mills were connected, the gable roofs removed, and additional floors were added with flat roofs. The Boston Manufacturing Company closed in 1930.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1977. Some of worker housing
Boston Manufacturing Company Housing
Boston Manufacturing Company Housing are historic buildings at 380-410 and 153-165 River Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The housing was for the Boston Manufacturing Company, the earliest modern manufacturing facility in the United States, and a separate national historic landmark.The housing was...
has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the site is occupied by the Charles River Museum of Industry
Charles River Museum of Industry
Charles River Museum of Industry is a museum located near the intersection of the Charles River and what is now Moody Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The building was originally a textile mill for the Boston Manufacturing Company, which the museum claims to have been "America's First Factory" in...
and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
-subsidized housing for seniors.
See also
- Lowell Mill GirlsLowell Mill Girls"Lowell Mill Girls" was the name used for female textile workers in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 19th century. The Lowell textile mills employed a workforce which was about three quarters female; this characteristic caused two social effects: a close examination of the women's moral behavior, and...
- Francis Cabot Lowell
- Paul Moody
- The Boston AssociatesThe Boston AssociatesThe Boston Associates was a term created by historian Vera Shlakmen in Economic History of a Factory Town, A Study of Chicopee, Massachusetts to describe a loosely linked group of investors. They included Nathan Appleton, Patrick Tracy Jackson, Abbott Lawrence, and Amos Lawrence, often related...
External links
- Boston Manufacturing Company, 144-190 Moody Street, Waltham, Middlesex County, MA: 70 photos, 15 data pages, at Historic American Engineering Record
- Charles River Museum of Industry