The Waltham Watch Company, also known as the American Waltham Watch Co. and the American Watch Co., produced about 40 million watches, clocks, speedometers, compasses, time delay fuses, and other precision instruments between 1850 and 1957. The company's historic 19th-century manufacturing facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts have been preserved as the American Waltham Watch Company Historic District.
The Boston Manufacturing Company was a business that operated one of the first factories in America. It was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, in partnership with a group of investors later known as The Boston Associates, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. It built the first integrated spinning and weaving factory in the world at Waltham, Massachusetts, using water power. They used plans for a power loom that he smuggled out of England as well as trade secrets from the earlier horse-powered Beverly Cotton Manufactory, of Beverly, Massachusetts, of 1788. This was the largest factory in the U.S., with a workforce of about 300. It was a very efficient, highly profitable mill that, with the aid of the Tariff of 1816, competed effectively with British textiles at a time when many smaller operations were being forced out of business. While the Rhode Island System that followed was famously employed by Samuel Slater, the Boston Associates improved upon it with the "Waltham System". The idea was successfully copied at Lowell, Massachusetts, and elsewhere in New England. Many rural towns now had their own textile mills.
The Heywood-Wakefield Company Complex is a historic factory complex at 206 Central Street in Gardner, Massachusetts. The complex, located at the corner of Central and Elm in West Gardner, has its origins in a chair manufacturing business established in 1826 by the Heywood brothers. The current brick factory buildings date to the later decades of the 19th century. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The United States Whip Company Complex or "United States Line Company Complex" is a historic factory located in Westfield, Massachusetts. It was owned and operated by one of the whip-making businesses that led Westfield to become widely known as "Whip City". United States Whip, created in 1892 by the consolidation of several local manufacturers, was the world's largest manufacturer of whips. The factory complex was listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and as part of an expanded Westfield Center Historic District in 2013.
The Baystate Corset Block is a historic commercial block at 395-405 Dwight St. and 99 Taylor Street in Springfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1874 and twice enlarged, it was from 1888 to 1920 home of the Baystate Corset Company, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of corsets. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Westfield Whip Manufacturing Company is a historic factory at 360 Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built about 1887, it is the best preserved of Westfield's extant whip factory buildings. It is also home to the last surviving business of the many whipmakers that once operated in Westfield. The factory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and included in an expansion of the Westfield Center Historic District in 2013.
The American Waltham Watch Company Historic District encompasses the former factory of the Waltham Watch Company, the leading American watch manufacturer of the 19th century and the city's largest employer. Located on Crescent Street and the banks of the Charles River, the surviving elements of its manufacturing facility date from the 1870s to the 1910s, and include particularly fine industrial Romanesque architecture. The buildings have been converted to a variety of commercial, industrial and residential uses since they ceased being used for watchmaking in the 1950s. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The United States Watch Company is a historic factory complex at 260 Charles Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built in 1886 and enlarged in 1901, it represents one of the most successful spinoffs of the American Waltham Watch Company, Waltham's dominant watchmaker of the late 19th century. When the complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, it was the last watch factory left in the city.
The Stark Building is a historic commercial building in Waltham, Massachusetts. The three story brick building was built in 1891 by John Stark, Jr., the owner of a successful manufacturer of watchmaking tools. It is one of Waltham's few surviving and well-preserved Queen Anne commercial buildings, having only received significant alteration to its storefronts. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Boston Manufacturing Company Housing are historic residential housing blocks at 380-410 and 153-165 River Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The housing was for the Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC), the earliest modern manufacturing facility in the United States. The housing was built in the nineteenth century and the two blocks of buildings were separately added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The building at 202–204 Charles Street in Waltham, Massachusetts is a well-preserved example of multi-unit residential housing built in the city in the early decades of the 20th century. It was built in 1913, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Central Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing the central town common of the city of Waltham, Massachusetts, and several commercial buildings facing the common or in its immediate vicinity. The common is bounded by Carter, Moody, Main, and Elm Streets; the district includes fourteen buildings, which are located on Main, Elm, Lexington, and Church Streets, on the north and east side of the common. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Charles Baker House is a historic house in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built about 1880, it is one of the city's best examples of Stick style architecture, and a good example of worker housing built for employees of the Waltham Watch Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Charles Baker Property is a historic house in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built about 1882, it is a well-preserved example of a period two-family residence built for workers of the American Watch Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Dani and Soldani Cabinet Makers and Wood Workers Factory is a historic factory building at 484 Worcester Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1914, it is a good example of a small early-20th century factory, and is important for its association with both the locally significant optical industry, and its history of Italian immigration. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Saco–Pettee Machine Shops is a historic factory complex at 156 Oak Street in the Newton Upper Falls area of Newton, Massachusetts. Although the area has an industrial history dating to the early 19th century, the oldest buildings in this complex, consisting of about thirteen brick buildings, were built in 1892. The property, a major economic force in the development of Newton Upper Falls, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It was home to Clark's N.A., the North American home base to Clark's Shoes, makers of fine footwear, until they relocated to Waltham Ma. in October 2016.
The Sanford Whip Company is a historic factory located at 330 Elm Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1883, it was owned and operated by one of the whip-making business that led Westfield to become widely known as "Whip City". The building for many years housed a novelty toy manufacturer after the market for whips declined in the early decades of the 20th century. The factory was listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, and as part of an expanded Westfield Center Historic District in 2013. It has been converted into affordable housing space.
The Briggs Carriage Company is a historic industrial complex at 14 and 20 Cedar Street in Amesbury, Massachusetts. Built before 1890, these two buildings are a surviving reminder of the city's late 19th century prominence as a major carriage manufacturing center. They were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
The Osgood Bradley Building is an historic industrial building at 18 Grafton Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Completed in 1916, the eight-story brick building is notable for its association with the Osgood Bradley Car Company, an early manufacturer of both railroad cars and automobiles. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
The Lyman Woodard Furniture and Casket Company Building is a former factory building located at 219-222 South Elm Street in Owosso, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
