Usually, one can tell when a business shuts down for good. However, this is more the case of a company changing its name and business location. This is the story of the Holyoke Worsted Mills.
1914 marked the end of the Beebe & Webber Company, a manufacturer of woolens, and its Ridgewood Mills retail operation, which had been in operation since 1862. A scene of finality was observed by onlookers as forty looms, equipment, and related items were removed from the factory on Main Street. Two hundred employees were impacted.
However, the assets of the concern were not moving very far. Beebe-Webber had now become the Holyoke Worsted Mills Company and relocated to the third floor of the Whiting Street Building opposite the old Holyoke Post Office on Main Street. The company did not last but several months at this location, as a significant fire occurred on November 22, 1914, causing over $137,000 in damage.
Holyoke Worsted Mills relocated to the Mackintosh Building on Lyman Street between the First and Second Level canals. The business continued under the ownership of Henry Beebe, and the mill superintendent was George H. Pierson, an eighteen-year employee of the former Beebe-Webber Mill.
In late 1920, control of the business was held by George H. Pierson, Frank F. Tobin, and Stephen Paul Dunn. The trio incorporated as Holyoke Worsted Mills, Inc. in 1921. A $200,000 stock offering was made available to the public. The capital infusion would enable the company to expand and fulfill its orders. The company signed a 20-year lease with Jesse Sheldon to occupy the former Beebe & Webber space at 647 Main Street.
The business manufactured and sold wool, cotton, and worsted fabrics, utilizing new and modern equipment.
A weavers' strike in 1925 lasted six weeks and was resolved with a 10% wage increase and a 48-hour workweek.
In 1929, the Town of Huntington, Massachusetts, made overtures to relocate the mill to that location. Over 200 residents had joined together to raise money to purchase the defunct W. B. Dunn Woolen Mill. The townspeople raised $10,000 to buy the abandoned mill and hoped to find a business to operate there. Ultimately, Holyoke Worsted Mills, Inc. remained in the city.
In 1937, the company acquired the Lawrence Dye Works and relocated its equipment to 15,000 square feet of space in the old Hadley Mills Building on Canal Street. The finishing and dyeing had been done in Providence, R.I., and it was anticipated that 60 employees would be needed in Holyoke.
On November 20, 1939, a large fire destroyed the five-story plant of Charles Belsky & Company at the corner of Main and South Street. The neighboring Holyoke Worsted Mills, Inc., was not impacted.
In September 1940, the corporation was sold to two former Farr-Alpaca executives, Joseph Metcaff 2nd and Donald R. Green. They incorporated under the Holyoke Worsted Company, which would carry on the work of the former business. On November 21, 1940, the new company began operating.
In late June 1941, the company relocated from the Sheldon building at 647 Main Street to consolidate its finishing and dyeing departments at Municipal Gas & Electric's Hadley division at 7 North Bridge Street.
The World War II years brought the company major contracts to supply olive serge cloth for the production of military uniforms.
In September 1950, the town of Kennebunk, Maine, had agreed to build a $150,000 factory building for the Holyoke Worsted Company. The offer was accepted by the company, and the Holyoke plant closed during the week of April 11, 1951.
In June 1951, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Metcaff 2nd sold their Linden Street home to Mr. & Mrs. John C. Buckley of Beech Street. They converted the residence into a nursing home.
The Holyoke Worsted Company ended operations in early 1954, after 92 years of continuous operation that included the Jared Beebe, Webber & Beebe Co., and Beebe & Webber Co. years.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican, Evening Union; Fall River (Massachusetts) Evening Herald; Boston (Massachusetts) Daily Globe; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription), Price & Lee City Directories, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
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