Shoe trade made its mark in Dover

DOVER — Much is made of Dover's history as a center of the textile industry: the Cocheco/Pacific Mills and Sawyer/American Woolen Company. There seems to be less appreciation of Dover's role in the shoe trade, but for many years there were a number of shoe "factories" throughout the city.

The first may have been located near the corner of Chestnut and Sixth streets. It was a time when shoes were still assembled by hand, different people had individual skills: cutter, stitcher, soler, etc. Just prior to the Civil War there were more than a half dozen manufacturers listed in the city directory, relatively small operations, but a slow-down occurred for the next 20 years or so. A recovery occurred in the 1880s driven partly by the mechanization of many of the component parts of the manufacturing process.

Sensing this improvement and in an effort to expand the local industrial base, several local business leaders formed the Dover Improvement Association, raised a sum of money, and undertook the construction of two buildings, one at the corner of Sixth and Grove streets (wooden), and the other near the corner of Park and Dover streets (brick). The latter was on land purchased from one John Ham, (from whence the designation of nearby Ham Street). Both buildings went through a series of renters/owners over the years. Often the owners of the business lived elsewhere, but the buildings were occupied fairly consistently and provided jobs for hundreds of local people. For example, Beckwith Shoe was located for many years in the Grove Street building. In 1917, Fred Beckwith, who was identified as the "manager," lived at 4 West Concord St., served as mayor. In later years the top executives lived out of town. That company stayed in place into the 1950s, was succeeded by Weiss-Lawrence Shoe, and they remained until the mid-1970s. The original four-story building was later demolished; a smaller building (once the location of the J.F. McElwain Shoe Co.) remains as the Purdy Storage facility. (You can still find a Beckwith brand of shoes online; just no longer made in Dover.)

There were other companies at different locations over the years ... maybe the subject of a later article. But it's interesting to take a look at the people who made up the Dover Improvement Association, an early example of today's Industrial Development Authority, people obviously willing to make a great effort to expand the city's business and industrial profile.

Thomas B. Garland came to Dover in 1845. His first employment was with the Cochecho Print Works, but over time he also served as treasurer of the Dover Gas Light Co., President of the Dover Navigation Co. (along with J. Frank Seavey, and B. Frank Neally, all subjects of earlier articles). Garland had one of the large and financially successful Navigation Co. schooners named after him. He served on the Dover School Board and was an original trustee of the Dover Public Library. His daughter, Caroline, (also mentioned in an earlier article) was the longtime (close to 50 years) librarian. Garland died in 1901.

A second member was Hiram F. Snow. He was a successful building contractor who owned land and built most of the houses on what is now Snow's Court. In later years he owned a loom, harness, and reed factory -- all components of the weaving trade -- at 56 Fourth St. As with many of the other town fathers of his time he was elected to the City Council and served as a member of the NH House. In 1895, the city reorganized the governance of Pine Hill Cemetery and Hiram was one of the original appointed trustees, along with Henry Law and Charles H. Sawyer. (And, here he is again, B. Frank Neally serving as treasurer.)

But I think Hiram's true claim to fame should be an application he filed in 1866 for a patent for the manufacture of bottled root beer. It was not unusual for people in those days to make their own home brew, but commercially available bottled root beer would have been a novelty. Unfortunately, it appears that Snow's project was not successful, although there may still be some of the original bottles buried in someone's back yard or tucked away in an attic. (Snow also submitted a patent application for a formula for pavement material ... obviously a man with some wide-ranging interests.)

One other member of the group was Elisha Brown, also mentioned previously, who went from a clerk's position to being president of the Strafford National Bank, also one of the original 1895 Trustees at Pine Hill. In his spare time he was President of the Concord and Portsmouth Railroad, and a Director of the Boston and Maine. For many years he and his family resided at 50 Silver St., which brings us back to the story of the shoe shops, because a later purchaser, in 1934, of that very same address was Roy B. Ireland, who was then listed as "proprietor" of the RB Ireland Shoe Company located in the Park Street factory built by the Dover Improvement Company. He was also President of Merchants National Bank, and in later years served as Dover's Water Commissioner.

By the very early 1980s the shoe industry in Dover was pretty much done. Weiss-Lawrence closed in 1974; the Park Street building was empty as of 1979. One of the last was Miller Shoe, located in the south end of the Cochecho Mill, with a "factory store" available for a time at the Washington St. end of the building, now the entrance to the Chinburg offices. For well over 100 years different companies came and went, but offered steady employment to many. That was a plus, but one drawback of working in the mills, in addition to the loss of many jobs as they closed, was for anyone working "on the floor" in those pre-OSHA days. And there are still some in town who will remember the incredible level of noise created by the machinery, leading to generations of hard-of-hearing retirees.