What You Can Do
Help the Easton Historical Commission to gather letters of support for the Ames Shovel Shops by emailing them at smdeware@hotmail.com.
11 Most Endangered
Ames Shovel Shops
Year Listed: 2009
Location: Easton , Massachusetts
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development
Latest News
November 3, 2009: Beacon Communities Development of Boston has a tentative agreement to buy the shovel shop property from developers and turn the complex into 119 apartments, a museum, a self-guided walking tour, and a 1.5-acre public park. Read more.
Ames Shovel Shops
Friends of Ames Shovel Shops spread the message that "This Place Matters!" at their local 11 Most Endangered Historic Places announcement on April 28, 2009.
Ames Shovel Shops
Historic photogragh of the Ames Shovel Shops.
Ames Shovel Shops
Historic photograph overlooking the Ames Shovel Shops.
Ames Shovel Shops
Headquarters of the Ames Shovel Shops.
Ames Shovel Shops
A historic view of the Long Machine shops exterior, with workers standing outside.
Ames Shovel Shops
The Plate Polishing Shop, built in 1880 as the company's production capacity peaked at this location. Learn More
Significance
In southeastern Massachusetts, an important piece of our nation's industrial heritage is threatened by development. The Ames Shovel Shops complex, an eight-acre site comprising 15 granite and wood buildings dating from 1852 through 1928, is the central core of what many consider a museum of 19th-century American development. To some, the area is so scenic it looks more like a New England college campus than an industrial village, complete with worker housing and civic buildings of international architectural reputation. The iron-bladed shovels fabricated here by generations of the Ames family literally built America. They were critical elements of the California Gold Rush, the Civil War and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad – but today, the new owners of the Ames Shovel Shop want to tear down some of the site's historic buildings and radically alter others in order to pave the way for a new mixed-use development.
Captain John Ames, a blacksmith, began manufacturing a simple but vital tool, the iron-bladed shovel, around 1774. His son, Oliver, established the Ames Shovel Works in Easton in 1803, and by 1870, the company, which pioneered early mass-production techniques, sold 60 percent of the shovels used worldwide. Thanks to the patronage of the Ames family, the town of North Easton flourished and is now a treasure trove of Henry Hobson Richardson's Romanesque Revival architecture and Frederick Law Olmsted lanscapes.
Although the Shovel Shops left Easton in 1953 after a series of mergers, the Ames company remains in business today as Ames True Temper, based in Pennsylvania. The complex was sold in the 1970s to a local businessman who leased portions of the buildings for office space.
Updates
July 22, 2009: The Easton Historical Commission voted all the buildings in the Ames Shovel Shop “Preferably Preserved” thereby enacting a 1 year demolition delay. The 1 year clock will begin ticking at official notification which the Chair has 14 days to provide.
May 29, 2009: After being granted a comprehensive permit for the affordable housing complex proposed at Ames Shovel Shops, the developer filed demolition applications that would destroy 15 of the historic buildings on the site. Read more.
April 2009: In 2007, the Shovel Shops were sold again to developers who now propose building a 177-unit affordable-housing complex with 15,000 square feet of office space. The plan, filed under Chapter 40B, the state's affordable-housing law, is making its way through the permitting process. If approved, it would allow the demolition of several of the buildings and the dramatic expansion of others and would have an adverse impact on both National Landmark and National Register historic districts surrounding the Shovel Shops site.
The Easton Historical Commission, one of the groups leading the charge to save the Ames Shovel Shops, believes the best way to preserve the site is to keep it in active use, but not in a way that so devastatingly impacts the entire historic area. The developer has rejected alternative design concepts that would retain the historic character of the former factory complex and has threatened to apply for demolition permits if the current proposal is rejected. Despite being urged to pursue a project with state and federal historic tax credit programs which are designed to provide compensation for preservation projects just like this, the developer has refused to revise plans to protect these important and unique historic resources.
Site videos produced by Polivision Productions.
Share your memories of this endangered place
Submitted by Indyviews at: January 30, 2010
Why is there such a hatred for old and beautiful historic buildings in this country, we have so few of them left relatively speaking. Is this country so small that we need to treat our heritage like so much trash, built your modern monstrosities somewhere else. Strange how the countries in Europe are so small and yet there is so much history standing...so much that most Americans would love to go there sometime to visit. A self guided walking tour.....of what, sort of like cutting the trees down so you can see the forest! The answer is money....for the developers, if they had their way all history would come down as there is no profit otherwise. I agree with Charles Roland, try to find an alternate use. I would like to have the privilege of being able to see this area sometime. Much more could be said.
Submitted by CharlesRoland at: January 13, 2010
Wow, the ignorance of some people amazes me. Anyone who advocates the bulldozing of well made and historic structures to make way for 40-B housing must be a wine/whine and cheese liberal. Although I consider myself a progressive, I do not advocate ANY low cost housing complexes as this only aggravates the problem and promotes a low quality of life. Mixed use development along with preservation of existing structures is almost always more wise. Erasing such a large part of our history would be a loss. I agree with a previous poster who stated that poorly constructed and eye-sore half-empty strip malls, along with graffiti ridden low income housing should not be the future of this historic site. The buildings on the location now should remain and a new purpose for them sought. Perhaps an artists colony and housing for artists and creatives? Perhaps it could be incorporated into a school or college campus? Perhaps a new industry? In any event, 40-B housing is an outmoded law which often requires towns and communities to sacrifice land to attract people who can't provide for themselves and put them all in one place. The buildings are always eyesores, with trouble between residents and frequent vandalism. Please, keep our valuable historical properties intact. Ignorance of where we come from is a guarantee that we will fail as a society.
Submitted by Caity at: December 3, 2009
Hi everyone. I realize the value in preserving a place that is so historically significant, but couldn't the space be used more efficiently by giving thousands of people a place to live? One of the reasons why this place is so beloved by everyone is that it helped so many people get jobs, and contributed to the wonderful growth of our nation. Shouldn't we carry on this tradition of helping people and ourselves instead of preserving the space, making change and progress impossible?
Submitted by Ames Employees at: October 2, 2009
We just discovered this website (10/2/09) and wanted all of you to know that Ames lives on. We're employees of Ames True Temper in Pennsylvania. We're the modern version of the Ames company that existed in Easton so many years ago. The facility where we work produces thousands of shovels each day. We are proud of our history and would be disappointed to see the buildings in Easton destroyed. We will be keeping an eye on this story...
Submitted by comingdown at: August 20, 2009
hey notcomingdown (original) from what I understand your descripition sounds like what exsists there now!
Submitted by notcomingdown at: August 19, 2009
hey coming down, what would you suggest, installing another half abandoned strip mall with low rent high rise with curtains blowing in the wind through broken windows ? get some quality of life.... green bay fathers found it wise to destroy old down town and bring in a mall. mall is mt and all thats left is bars and bums and gangs. and the bars are half closed. rotton shame, and no great fix in the real near future yet. your building there have already withstood the test of time and elements. only the wiles of men remain...
Submitted by Toe at: August 12, 2009
None of those buildings are going anywhere.
Submitted by coming down at: July 24, 2009
Can some one say" Tick Tock" Time is counting down
Submitted by marjazz at: July 18, 2009
I agree with Mina. The developers should take responsibility in moving the buildings elsewhere. They sound so "UnAmerican," as if this was never their country. It looks like progress here is really going backwards. We do not need affordable housing and encourage people to live from others who work so hard.
Submitted by Jen at: July 15, 2009
People who cannot understand history are determined to destroy it so no one else can enjoy it. I bet they didn't share their toys as kids, either.