Goodbye Manufacturing: Rhode Island and Deindustrialization
The Airedale Worsted MIll in Woonsocket. Photo by Tom Porter
Just Milling Around
By Thomas Porter
Following the formative boom years of the 1940s and the United States victories in Europe and Asia the Woonsocket textile mills of northern Rhode Island would begin to grind to a halt. What laid ahead for the natives of “Woony” would make for a turbulent few decades.
Most immediate was the massive unemployment. In 1954 alone 2,710 jobs left as many mills declared bankruptcy or moved south, where it was more affordable for more businesses to operate. Besides issues with profit margin, the textile industry found that civilians, for whatever reason, simply did not want to buy Woonsocket made wool or yarn.
“Government orders are good, but Woonsocket textile production for civilian goods were almost nonexistent” said the Secretary of the Woonsocket Association of Manufacturers James C. Winn in the years that followed what many natives to the Blackstone Valley called the “Southern Exodus.”
By 1955, 25% of the Woonsocket workforce found itself unemployed, laid off from textile work. The loss of a major source of income and tax revenue for the state put the pressure on homeowners and regular citizens. With less disposable income, those in Woonsocket could not shop at many local stores like McCarthy’s, a local department store located in the center of the city. Many businesses like McCarthy’s would slowly fade away, and would not survive the onslaught of strip malls that were to come.
While manufacturing recoiled in the city, many concerned citizens, politicians and business leaders had ideas to draw major manufacturers back within the city’s limits.
The first major project to bring business back into Woonsocket was “Operation Jobs.” The plan was launched in 1954 and asked for financial contributions to build a business park for local manufacturers and other similar businesses. The plan raised 425,000 dollars, and was put toward a business park in nearby Slatersville, North Smithfield. The plan did employ many citizens of Woonsocket, but ultimately benefited North Smithfield, as they would be able to tax the facility.
The city moved forward with a very different plan in the 1960s. Instead of focusing on the local manufacturing and textile industries, local political leader at both the state and city level endorsed what they called “The Gateway Urban Renewal Project.” This project was aimed to rebuild the main street section of Woonsocket and to turn it into a shopping mall with two large parking lots. Further improvements to the roadways were also included in the plans.
The Gateway proposal would fail, falling by nearly 3,000 votes in a special referendum on April 5, 1966 despite the full a support of the Woonsocket Chamber of Commerce, Citizens Advisory Board, and the executive board of the Social progress Action Corporation. It would not be until Highland Industrial Park opened in 1981, another 15 years, until the city would be able to draw new businesses to city.
Despite the fall of Woonsockets manufacturing sector, textile related manufacturing would remain the leading job category in the city until 1990, when it was finally surpassed by service related jobs.
The Alsace Worsted Mill, as seen from Hazel Street, was one of many mills owned by the Guerin family that went out of business in 1954. Photo by Tom Porter.
The Alsace Worsted Mill as viewed from Hazel Street. Photo by Tom Porter.
The clock from McCarthy's Department Store which went out of business in the 1960s. The clock was saved in 1994.
The Alsace Worsted Mill, as seen from Hazel Street, was one of many mills owned by the Guerin family that went out of business in 1954. Photo by Tom Porter.
Sources:
“Woonsocket Kills Gateway Proposal.” Providence Journal. April 6, 1966.
“Combine Buys Guerin Mills for $185,000 At Auction.” Woonsocket Call. June 8, 1954.
“Guerin Workers Reject Pay Cut Offered By Mills As Alternate To Closing.” Woonsocket Call. November 2, 1953.
The Rhode Island Development Council, “Rhode Island directory of manufacturers and list of commercial establishments” (Providence: Rhode Island Development Council in association with the Department of Employment Security and the Department of Labor), 1963.
U.S. Census Bureau, “1990 Census of population: social and economic characteristics, Rhode Island,” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Commerce), 1993.
U.S. Census Bureau “1980 Census of population: characteristics of the population, Rhode Island,” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Commerce), 1983.
U.S Census Bureau “Rhode Island: 2000, summary population and housing characteristics” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Commerce), 2002.
U.S Census Bureau “Census of population: 1960, characteristics of the population,” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Commerce), 1962.
U.S Census Bureau “Census of population: 1950, characteristics of the population,” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Printing Office), 1952.
U.S Census Bureau “1970 census of population, characteristics of the population,” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of Commerce), 1973.
Fortin, Marcel, “Woonsocket, Rhode Island: a centennial history 1888-2000. The millennium edition.” (Pennsylvania: Jostens Printing and Publishing Division State College), 2000.