The Samoset Worsted, a four story brick structure and office building, was constructed in 1910 by Torrington Construction. It was built at the same time as the adjacent Nyanza Mill. They would be the last textile mills constructed in the city.
While relatively little is known about the mill’s original occupant, in 1937 the site was purchased by the Finkelstein brothers for their growing business.
Jacob Finkelstein & Sons came to Woonsocket in 1927, when the family's patriarch, whose primary language was French, arrived with the intention of moving his small raincoat manufacturing company from Boston. The first “needle trade” business in the city, the company grew from a loft space in Taft-Peirce to locations on Railroad Street and Social Street before finding its permanent home in the Samoset Mill.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the company retooled to a 100% war footing and was enlisted to manufacture military outerwear (trench coats, field jackets and rubberized rainwear) for the war’s duration. For these efforts, Jacob Finkelstein & Sons received 5 Army/Navy E Awards for excellence in performance and commitment. They joined the elite 5 “E” Club, and would proudly fly the E Award banner high above the mill for the following 25 years.
With the war’s end, in 1946, the firm, now with 600 employees, returned to civilian production and began a period of rapid growth.
<i>Images courtesy of the Woonsocket Historical Society</i>
