In 1834, Austin George started making pegged boots (shoes) on Federal St. and later moved to State St. In those days, the term “Boots” was the common usage for cobblers and only was replaced in the early 20th century by the term “Shoes”.
William Moody began making pegged shoes in the same year near Green and Merrimack Streets. Town surveys at that also mentioned Col. Robert Robinson and George Emery opening “boot” shops.
Many shoe makers and their apprentices toiled away in “10 footers,” a term used to describe the shanties that dotted the New England countryside where they set up shop.
Pegged shoes use wooden pegs to fasten soles to the shoe body were largely made by hand as were all shoes and boots in the 1830s. But crude wooden pegging machines did automate the process somewhat, signaling the arrival of labor saving devices that would serve as the engine of eventual mass production. The goal of such inventions amid the Industrial Revolution was to lower costs and speed production. Specialty footwear such as cowboy boots are still made with wooden pegs.
Most shoe manufacturing was a cottage industry until B.F. Bartlett Co. Expanded into a large scale operation manufactured boots for customers in Boston and employed “a large number of hands.” There was also a high amount of turnover in businesses as securing customers would often stall as the hand-made operations could not keep up satisfying the demand. Early failures were Ayer, Heath, Robert Couch, Jr, Jacob T. Rowe, Seth Chase and involved hand-made creations that were often terribly uncomfortable and did not have even a left and right modification.
All this changed when the Dodge Brothers came to town. Elisha Perkins Dodge was born in Ipswich in 1847. Starting off as a cutter after working on the railroad business; at that time, there was a clear need to move shoe making into the industrial age. His brothers, John L. and Nathan D. at first sought to start in Lynn, Massachusetts with a small operation. Funding these operations were more readily available in Newburyport so the moved their operation to the town by the Merrimack in 1866. John H. Balch, a local merchant, offered to finance their operation via the First National Bank. They started in a second floor above the financial institution. Balancing bookkeeping at the same time rapidly moving out manufactured shoes was a demanding job but Elisha began to innovate to make the entire assembling process more effiicent and thus more profitable.
He did so well, he took over the business in 1867 with a new partner Newell Danforth. As they expanded, they took on more partners and in 1875, took on Henry B. Little who stayed with the business for twenty four years. They expanded into sub-divisions specializing in different products such as E.P. Dodge & Co., Newburyport Shoe Company and N.D. Dodge & Bliss. The Newburyport Daily News bragged that the Dodge Brothers owned the largest shoe factory in the world in 1880.
In 1873, the enormous Dodge Building was constructed at 21 Pleasant Street complete with ample property nearby so expansion would be possible. (Later turned into automobile parking) It had the latest innovation such as the revolutionary McKay Stitching machine, which could turn out 200 pairs of shoes a day and as it was refined by United Shoe Machinery, 1,200 pairs by 1960. (According to the paper “Cord Wainer (shoe maker)”)
Milton (1892-1975) was John L.’s grandson and my grandfather. He was awarded numerous patents, following his passion for inventing machines rather than manufacturing shoes. The innovation kept the company competitive especially as other shoe manufacturers began to pop up in Newburyport & Haverhill.
By 1874, six “boot and shoe manufacturers” were operating in Newburyport with the Dodges joined by E.K. Batchelder at 314 High St., John D. Pike at 268 High. Jacob T. Rowe at 285 ½ High and W.N. Spinney at 10 Middle St. The number grew to nine by 1884-85 and there were 11 “Boot and Shoe Makers” suggesting handmade footwear was still viable. Cottage industries were starting to spring up under the directory headings “Boot and Shoe machinery” and “Boot and Shoe Stock.” Supplier firms also operated in all the immediate surrounding towns such as Rowley, Georgetown, Salisbury and Amesbury. And Haverhill like a dozen of other bigger Massachusetts cities was a center of shoe manufacturing.
The Golden Age of Shoe Manufacturing
At its peak, shoe concerns in Newburyport employed upward of 3,000 “operatives” as the MHI called workers.
Bliss & Perry was incorporated in 1892 by Charles A. Bliss and Nathan D. Dodge. Walter I. Perry was shortly thereafter brought into the business. It became Dodge, Bliss & Perry in 1907 and was known for an inexpensive line of women’s slippers and eventually women’s shoes. Others associated with the firm were George H. Bliss, Donald I. Perry, Herbert E. Harriman and Norman P. Merrill. It employed 400 at its peak.
Daniel S. Burley and William R. Usher started their namesake firm in 1891. Eight years later, it became Burley & Stevens.
In April 1894, Harry M. Husk Co. started up and eventually employed 400 operatives.
In 1906, George A. Learned began operation as a partnership with Roger Sherman Jr. and Andrew Roaf. Learned eventually took over the business with 350 “operatives” turning out 2,500 pairs of shoes a day.
By 1895, 21 companies and subsidiaries had established themselves in the City and more entrepreneurs were joining the industry.
Specialization was necessary
The Baby Shoe Co., owned by John S. Norton and Louis J. Festo, made soft soled shoes for infants.
The Custom Heel Co. employed 50 operatives with J.F. Pollard as president. The Maple Wood Heel Co. produced, unsurprisingly, heels. The president was Fred W. Mears and the treasurer was Halsey E. Abbey.
The Fern Co. with Oscar Fern as president made women’s shoes with 175-200 operatives. Fern & Poor employed 125 and made women’s shoes. W.D. Hannah employed 300 in the production of shoes.
Lowell Thomas Shoe Corp. made women’s shoes with Harry B. Thomas as president, William P. Lowell Sr. as treasurer and William Lowell Jr. as secretary.
The R.E. Welch Shoe Co., owed by Richard E. Welch, created jobs for 75.
The Founder Dies
Elisha died just shy of his 55th birthday from pneumonia on Sept. 30, 1902. Author and historian John J. Currier, who lavishly eulogized him at his memorial service, summed up the father of shoe manufacturing in his tome “History of Newburyport, 1764-1905.”
“For 35 years, Mr. Dodge was interested in establishing and developing the shoe industry in Newburyport. He was one of the first to combine the many parts of shoe manufacturing under one roof to build and successfully operate the large establishment from start to finish under the management and care of one man. Others who followed owe much to the example set by him as one of the pioneers in the manufacture of shoes on a large scale.”
The Great Depression shatters the Industry
World War I and the Spanish Flu caused a downward spiral: industrial revenues declined from $20.6 million in 1919 to $11.99 million by 1924. During that period, a recession had taken hold as the economy transitioned from wartime to peacetime.
Still, 15 manufacturers and five heel and counter concerns soldiered on: They included A.N.F. Shoe Co., Bliss & Perry, William W. Coffin, Dodge Brothers, W.G. Dodge Shoe Company, Fern Shoe Co., Fern & Poor, W.D. Hannah Shoe Co., Ernest D. Haseltine Co., Harry M. Husk Co., Jaques & Welch, George A. Learned Co., William P. Lowell Co., Noble Shoe Co. and Pearl Shoe Co.
The economic crash of 1929 caused much distress in the shoe manufacturing sector as orders began to rapidly slow. In 1933, a devastating strike occurred.
Workers numbering 1,500 from seven Newburyport factories struck on March 10, 1933. In the throes of the Depression, annual wages had dropped from $1,332 a year to $924. They also spent time in the factories with no pay as they waited for orders to materialize. The workers were represented by a loosely knit union which after a month of striking won recognition and some wage increases. The workers, 40% of them women, returned to work on Monday, April 9, jubilant that they had prevailed. Unfortunately, by 1942, the number of manufacturers had dwindled to two and one supplier concern. The big names – Dodge, Brackett, Hannah, Bliss, Learned and Perry were gone. Newburyport’s shoe industry was all but dead.
In May 19, 1934 when a suspected “firebug” as they were called in those days lit up the Dodge Brothers factory at 112 Merrimack St. The building was total loss as was the George A. Learned Co. factory next door, then occupied by Fisher Shoe Co. The blaze destroyed 20 buildings, including many nearby homes. It looked like a war zone. Consider that 9 out of 10 families in Newburyport had a member working in the shoe factories, and all of a sudden 500 workers were out on the street without a job.
World War II caused some revival as the demand for foot ware for the war slightly revived Newburyport’s fortunes. But by 1960, there were just two factories left: Newburyport Shoe Company which then turned into the Bracket Heel Company and the Ruth Shoe Co.
Regrettably, in the early 1960’s the Bracket Heel Company closed their doors being the last true Newburyport shoe industry company that had been around from the beginning.
By late 1938 the Ruth Shoe Company, which was located in Salisbury, purchased the Merrimac Mill building at 44 Merrimack Street and began operations in what was still referred to at the time as “the best-laid-out modern industrial plant in New England.”
A condition of their move to Newburyport involved some improvements to the building to be paid by the City of Newburyport through use of the “Local Industrial Fund.” At that time many cities competed to bring industry to their respective communities, and while controversial, this use of funds was seen as necessary to bring Ruth Shoe to Newburyport.
Another condition was to pave the Waterfront Park to provide parking for the company’s employee’s. Ruth Shoe came to Newburyport already employing 450 people, eventually increasing to 650 people.
As evidenced by historical newspapers, it was not until around 1958 that Ruth Shoe began to have financial issues due to a slowing of the shoe industry in the United States. It was at that time they also took on the names of Mark Alan Shoes and Port Shoe Company.
In 1963, the company faced bankruptcy. An auction of assets was held and the Small Business Administration purchased the building at a January 1964 auction. Sadly, the City was out a major business and had sacrificed its waterfront park leaving it poorer than before culturally and economically.
Ruth Shoe was the last of the remaining shoe factories in Newburyport marking the end of the Newburyport shoe industry.
References:
1887 survey, “Newburyport, Its Industries, Business Interests and Attractions” by John D. Parsons
Andrew Sidford Architects, Portfolio, https://www.asidfordarchitects.com/prince-place
A Short History of the Newburyport Shoe Industry, by John Dodge, Newburyport History Blog,
“The New England Galaxy: The best of 20 years from Old Sturbridge Village”, 1980
Horan Developments, https://www.horandevelopments.com/prince-place
Massachusetts History of Industries (MHI), 1930 edition.
W. Lloyd Warner’s “The Social System of the Modern Factory” – Volume four of his Yankee City Series, Yale University Press, 1945.
When the Shoe-Shop Industry was a Shoe Empire, by John Lagoulis, Newburyport Daily News, April 16, 2012, Newburyport, MA.