Guild member Penny Lacroix will present “The Abbot Worsted Company; The Business, the People and the Community”

In 1855, a partnership was established in Graniteville, Massachusetts “under the name of Abbot Worsted Company by John W. Abbot, John W. P. Abbot and Charles G. Sargent, special partners, to manufacture fine worsted yarn braid and upholstery yarn, employing 20 hands.” For the next 100 years, the company would operate multiple spinning mills in Westford, forever changing the character of the small farming community.

This presentation will report not only the evolution and growth of the company, but also how it drove the social and economic structure of the town. Becoming the largest manufacturer of carpet worsted yarns in the world by 1916, it provided low cost housing, medical care, and social and recreational opportunities for employees and their families.

This program was originally presented at the 2021 Weaving History Conference hosted by the Thousand Islands Art Center.