Whitin Machine Works
Textile machinery company in Massachusetts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Whitin Machine Works (WMW) was founded by Paul Whitin and his sons in 1831 beside the Mumford River in Northbridge, Massachusetts. In honor of its founder, the village in this section of Northbridge became known as Whitinsville in 1835.
The Whitinsville Machine Works developed into a prominent manufacturer of textile machinery, maintaining continuous operations into the twentieth century, notably outlasting the majority of New England mills that had relocated to the southern United States in the same period. By 1948, the company employed 5,615 individuals.[1] Colloquially referred to as "The Shop" by residents, the firm served as a principal employer in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, for a period exceeding 135 years, until its closure in 1976.
Origins
In 1809, Paul Whitin, his father-in-law James Fletcher, and others from Northbridge and Leicester established the Northbridge Cotton Manufacturing Company. This wood-framed spinning mill, two and one-half stories high, had 200 spindles and was the third cotton mill in the Blackstone Valley at the time.
In 1815, under the firm name of Whitin and Fletcher, Paul Whitin became a partner with Fletcher and his two brothers-in-law, Samuel and Ezra Fletcher. A second mill with 300 spindles was built on the opposing bank of the Mumford River. Paul Whitin, following the acquisition of shares from the Fletcher company in 1826, established a new company with Paul Jr. and John Crane Whitin, named Paul Whitin and Sons.[2] That same year, a new brick mill was constructed with 2000 spindles. The structure has undergone restoration and remains alive in Whitinsville.
Later on, Paul Whitin's two other younger sons, Charles P. and James F., also entered into the family-run business.
Whitin died in 1831, with the cotton business on a solid basis and escalating. In 1845, Betsey Whitin and her sons built a new, stone textile factory, largely of granite, known as the Whitinsville Cotton Mill, which gave the family business 7,500 more spindles. The Whitinsville Cotton Mill would later be used as a testing facility for new equipment developed by the Whitin Machine Works, across the street. Now called The Restored Cotton Mill Apartments, in Whitinsville.
Whitinsville: a company town
In 1831, Paul Whitin's third son, John Crane Whitin, designed and patented a new cotton picker machine that outperformed those used in previous mills. This was the first in the series of inventions that would establish the Whitin Machine Works as a leading textile machinery company.
In 1847, the Whitins built "The Shop," which consisted of a new textile production area, four times larger than the brick mill. It contained machine shops, foundries, and other specialized structures.
As the family textile businesses expanded, so did Whitinsville. The company provided more housing for new workers on North Main Street and nearby side streets as Irish immigrants entered into the labor pool that same year. Just seven years earlier, John C. Whitin had built the first of the stately mansions, which had occupied land where the Whitin Gymnasium now stands. In the same period, Paul Whitin Jr. married Sarah Chapin and built a new Italian-style home, along with his brother in 1856.
Life in the village revolved around "The Shop" to provide the means and the opportunity for successive generations of mostly Europeans to immigrate. The Whitins built the entire village to support their expanding business operations. In all, the company erected 1,000 buildings (2200 units) to house its expanding workforce. The work was hard and often dangerous. There were recorded incidents in which workers lost their lives working in the shop foundry, or the machine shop, but working and living in Whitinsville was much better than the average mill town. "The Company" provided amenities unheard of in neighboring villages, such as heating coal provided at company cost, free snowplowing, landscaping, and property maintenance. The Whitins allowed any employee who heated their homes with wood access to their properties to cut down as many trees as needed, free of charge. The company constructed the first reservoir, creating Meadow Pond (west of Main Street), which was the first system that pumped water directly into village homes. A typical sight on weekends would be the villagers sailing and fishing on the pond using equipment rented from the company-provided facility. Through the 1860s, the work schedule was 11 hours (7am-6pm) per day and 6 days per week, and yet, there was a long-standing tradition of allowing up to 4 unpaid personal days off per month. It is well known, for instance, that during slow times in the shop, John C. Whitin would hire idle employees to work on his property, farms, or, as in 1879, to build the Town Hall as a memorial to his late father and mother. Many public buildings still in use today were built with Whitin funds and then donated to the town; the Whitin Community Center serves as an example.
The Whitin family continued to hold the Whitin Machine Works privately until 1946. By 1948, the company was operating at peak capacity, employing 5,615 men and women. Its products were sold worldwide. However, the business declined over the next two decades. In 1966, Whitin Machine Works was sold to White Consolidated Industries. The plant struggled along for another decade until it ultimately shut down in 1976.[3]
Legacy and current use
The Whitin Machine Works facility was converted into an industrial complex. As of 2008, it employs approximately 2,500 people.[4]
