The Hathaway Manufacturing Company was a producer of
cotton textiles
Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a wikt:boll, boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almo ...
. In 1955, the company merged with
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates to form
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...
.
History
The company was founded in
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...
in 1888 by
Horatio Hathaway Horatio Hathaway (May 19, 1831 – March 25, 1898) was a New England industrialist, politician, and philanthropist and namesake of Berkshire Hathaway.
Early life
Hathaway was born on May 19, 1831, to Nathaniel Hathaway and Anna ( Shoemaker) Hathawa ...
, a China trader and whaler in the Pacific.
Hathaway became the largest manufacturer of rayon suits.
In 1955, the company merged with
Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates of
Adams, Massachusetts
Adams is a town in northern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 8,166 at the 2020 census.
History
Nathan Jones purchased the township of ...
to form
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...
.
In 1985,
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...
shut the last textile operations. A mill, sold in 1985 for $215,000, was torn down in January 2014 after failing to find a buyer.
See also
*
Wamsutta Mills
Wamsutta Mills is a former textile manufacturing company and current brand offering sheets, towels, bedding and other household products. Founded by Thomas Bennett, Jr. on the banks of the Acushnet River in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1846 and ...
*
List of mills in New Bedford, Massachusetts
The city of New Bedford, Massachusetts once had about 70 textile mills, operated by 28 establishments with over 3.7 million spindles at its peak around 1920, and was among the leading cotton textile centers in the United States during the early 2 ...
References
{{Reflist
Berkshire Hathaway
Companies based in New Bedford, Massachusetts
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures in Massachusetts
Textile mills in the United States