In 1889, Woonsocket politician Aram Pothier was appointed by Rhode Island Governor Royal C. Taft as a representative to the Exhibition Universelle de Paris, a world’s fair marking the centennial of the storming of the Bastille. Pothier’s travels in Europe took him to the textile centers of Roubaix and Turcoing, in France, and Verviers, in Belgium, where he met with representatives of textile producers in an effort to spark interest in establishing facilities in Rhode Island, and, in particular, Woonsocket.
Through these efforts, Charles Tiberghien, president of the textile firm Charles Tiberghien and Sons based in Turcoing, France, purchased a six-acre parcel in 1906 from the then-owners of the Hamlet Mill property. He constructed a substantial worsted yarn spinning and finishing mill on the site, which opened in mid-1907 and employed 200 operators.
Despite the early volume of work, the company did not begin to show a profit until the time of the First World War. It was at this time that the first signs of labor strife began in the city. By the early 1930s, the Great Depression and conflicts between management and labor unions led to the closure of more than fourteen major mills in the city. The French Worsted was able to remain open throughout this period and signed a contract with the Independent Textile Union (ITU) in 1938.
Production for the Second World War helped boost the French Worsted's profitability once more. During the period they operated three shifts, employing 900 workers, and installed a new scouring and grease recovery plant.
In the immediate post-war years, the company entered a ten-year, $7 million modernization program that included revamping of the drawing and combing departments and replacement of the older French spinning mules with Whitin spinning frames.
<i>Images courtesy of the Woonsocket Historical Society (A) and the Rhode Island Historical Society (B & C)</i>
