Emerson Shoe Company facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Emerson Shoe Company
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| Location | 51 Maple St., Rockland, Massachusetts |
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| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | c. 1891 |
| NRHP reference No. | 100002542 |
| Added to NRHP | June 1, 2018 |
The Emerson Shoe Company building is a really old factory in Rockland, Massachusetts. It's located where Maple and Plain Streets meet. Built around 1891, this factory grew bigger over time. It's the largest wooden building in Rockland! In the early 1900s, many people worked here. Today, it's no longer a factory. Instead, it has been turned into homes. This historic building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
The Emerson Shoe Factory Building
The old Emerson Shoe Company factory is in a part of Rockland with both homes and businesses. You can find it at the corner of Maple and Plain Streets. The oldest part of the building faces Maple Street. Other parts were added later, stretching along Plain Street.
How the Factory Was Built
This factory was built using a special method. It's called "mill construction." This was a common way to build factories in the 1890s and early 1900s. The building has different heights. Some parts are two stories tall, while others are four stories high.
From Shoes to Homes
The very first part of the factory was built around 1891. It was for a company called Hall, Gallagher & Foulke's Shoe Company. Later, it became George W. Hall & Company.
In 1906, another shoe company bought the building. This was R.B. Grover & Company. Their old factory in Brockton, Massachusetts had burned down. R.B. Grover & Company started in 1889. They were famous for making a shoe called the "Emerson shoe." Because of this, they changed their name to Emerson Shoe Company in 1901.
The Emerson Shoe Company became one of the biggest employers in Rockland. They made the factory even bigger in 1906, 1909, and 1916. Sadly, the company closed down in 1931. This happened during the Great Depression in the United States, a very tough economic time.
After that, different businesses used the factory for many years. In the 2010s, the building got a new life. It was changed into modern homes called "loft-style housing."
