The history of this family-run company, which was shuttered in the same year as the nation’s bicentennial, also prompts important questions about work, freedom, and the legacies of the revolution.īefore there was a place called Whitinsville, and long before it was possible to see a rush of hundreds of workers traveling home for lunch during the mid-day hour, there was just the rush of a small waterfall. Tracing this business’s origins back to the American Revolution, we can see how a company forged during the late 18th century became a supplier of textiles machinery throughout the world. Starting with basic tools, heirs to this business made an industrial powerhouse. From a small forge in a rural area, the Fletcher and Whitin families created a veritable dynasty along the Mumford River. The Whitin Machine Works, based out of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, is a prime case study in the rise and fall of the age of American manufacturing. Memorial Day in Whitinsville, 1898 A lot can happen to a family business in 200 years.
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