The Saco-Lowell Shops (later Saco-Lowell Corporation) was once one of the largest

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

machine manufacturers in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was formed in 1912 with a merger between the Lowell Machine Shop with the Saco-Pettee Machine Company. At its peak in the 1920s, the company had manufacturing facilities in Lowell and

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

, and

Biddeford, Maine Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

. The company maintained their executive office at 77 Franklin Street in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and also had a southern office in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. During the mid-20th century, Saco-Lowell was one of the "big three" cotton textile machinery builders in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, along with the

Whitin Machine Works The Whitin Machine Works (WMW) was founded by Paul Whitin and his sons in 1831 on the banks of the Mumford River in South Northbridge, Massachusetts. The village of South Northbridge became known as Whitinsville in 1835, in honor of its founder. ...

and the

Draper Corporation The Draper Corporation was once the largest maker of power looms for the textile industry in the United States. It operated in Hopedale, Massachusetts for more than 130 years. Beginnings In the early 19th century, Ira Draper was a prosperou ...

. While cotton machinery was the company's mainstay, Saco-Lowell also made machinery for the woolen and silk industries.

Company origins

Lowell Machine Shop

The Lowell Machine Shop had its origins in the early days of the textile industry in the

when it was set up as part of the

Merrimack Manufacturing Company The Merrimack Manufacturing Company (also known as Merrimack Mills) was the first of the major textile manufacturing concerns to open in Lowell, Massachusetts, beginning operations in 1823. History After the death of Francis Cabot Lowell o ...

in 1824, the first cotton

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

established in Lowell. Under the direction of Paul Moody, the shop also built machinery for the other mills in Lowell as they were set up. Including the

Boott Mills The Boott Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts were a part of an extensive group of cotton mills, built in 1835 alongside a power canal system in this important cotton town. Their founder was Kirk Boott, one of the early mill owners in Lowell. Today, ...

in 1835 and others. The company soon gained a reputation for producing high-quality cotton machinery. The Lowell Machine Shop was located at the junction of the Merrimack and

Pawtucket Canal Completed in 1796, the Pawtucket Canal was originally built as a transportation canal to circumvent the Pawtucket Falls of the Merrimack River in East Chelmsford, Massachusetts. In the early 1820s it became a major component of the Lowell p ...

s, near the Swamp Locks, across from Dutton Street in Lowell. In 1834, the Lowell Machine Shop also began producing steam locomotives for the newly created

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

. The Lowell Machine Shop was incorporated in 1845 in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

as a separate company. The company produced most of the machines for other cotton mills in Lowell during this period.

Saco Water Power Company

The Saco Water Power Company first established a machine shop in 1841 on the banks of the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, Maine, Portland ...

. A new manufacturing plant was opened in

Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

in 1900.

Pettee Machine Works

Otis Pettee established a textile manufacturing company in 1831 at

Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts Newton Upper Falls is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The area borders Needham, Massachusetts to the southwest, Wellesley, Massachusetts to the west, the West Roxbury neig ...

. The company was reorganized in 1882 by Henry Billings as the Pettee Machine Works. During the 1890s, the company expanded its Newton facilities. Saco and Pettee merged in 1897 and became known as the Saco & Pettee Machine Shops.

Kitson Machine Shop

The Kitson Machine Shop was founded by Richard Kitson in Lowell in 1849. It became well known for its cotton preparatory machines, especially its picker machine. Kitson was acquired by the Lowell Machine Shop in 1905. The Kitson plant in Lowell was closed in 1928, when all of the company's operations were consolidated in Biddeford.

Merger and consolidation

The Saco & Pettee Machine Shops merged with the Lowell Machine Shops in 1912. In 1923, Saco-Lowell expanded in Lowell with the completion of Building #15 on Dutton Street. However, just five years later in 1928, this factory was closed, along with all other Lowell plants. Operations were consolidated in Biddeford. The plant in Newton Upper Falls was closed in 1932. Much of the Lowell plant was demolished that same year.

Recent history

In 1992, the former Kitson factory on Dutton Street in Lowell was acquired by the American Textile History Museum, which moved to the site in 1994. The building was recently renovated and portions have been converted into residences and offices. Building #15 in Lowell, next door to the Kitson building served a variety of manufacturing and retail uses until 2003 when it was converted into apartments. Saco-Lowell operated a manufacturing plant in

Easley, South Carolina Easley is a city in Pickens County (with parts extending into Anderson County) in the State of South Carolina. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with a small portion of the city in Anderson County. In 2001, Easley hosted the Big League ...

. It closed in November, 2000. The remnants of the company, known as Saco-Lowell Parts is now part of W.W. Williams of

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

.WW Williams
/ref>

Archives and records

Saco & Lowell Company records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.