This company was created in 1897 by the merger of George Crompton's company (created in 1851) and LJ & FB Knowles company (created in 1856). They created and sold looms that manufactured every kind of textile fabric.

Interestingly enough, the Loom Works survived in Worcester until 1980, when it closed and relocated somewhere in the South.

My great-grandfather, Bradley Nickles worked for this company until 1899, when he became the inkeeper at the Exchange Hotel in Worcester. Mr. Nickles was an expert in the area of motion of the looms. He did a large amount of work for Crompton at the World's Fair.

C&K is still alive with Hqs in Connecticutt- has over $1Billion dollars worth and is one of the largest chemical companies in the world. It just moved from Worcester. We own the home where Mrs. FB Knowles lived and Mr. Hogg lived. He purchased the first Crompton mills.

My great-grandfather, Frederick V. Townsend, was a foreman at this mill until he died in 1929. His second wife, Annie, also worked here until her son "Jim" was born. Several of their children and other relatives worked there as well. My grandmother Dorothy and her husband Vern were both born nearby (Vern's father worked at C & K for a while as well).

I have a number of forged wrenches that I got from a member who's father had died and they were cleaning out his basement. They are stamped "CROMPTON & KNOWLES LOOM WORKS" or simply "CROMPTON & KNOWLES"

I am an employee with the Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlor located at 838 Main St. in Worcester, MA. I do not know if you are aware of this, but this funeral home is the former home of L. J. Knowles.

I am the daughter of the Last George Crompton (although the family was no longer involved with C & K when I was born.) Had I been a boy, I would have been George Crompton 4th. Instead, I'm Marie. For the curious, here is the family geneology. http://www.stars-end.net/bryants/gsbdetail15.html#I1_553

Another interesting and UNUSUAL fact......Crompton & Knowles also manufactured the Sherman Duckpin Pinsetter machine.

my grandfather now ownes 100 grand street which is one of the crompton and knowles buildings. It is in good shape however the other buildings (93 & 95 grand St.) are vacant and in bad shape and i expect to be taken down in the neer future.

one of those looms made it to Nova Scotia, Canada.It is now all set up in our workshop and still fully functional. What a beautiful piece of machinerie and history. We would love to use it again and we wonder if there is anyone out there to provide us with a manual for the fine tuning of shuttle and beater sequence before we smash the last of our shuttles.

My great grandfather was a foreman at Cromton Knowles until his death in 1924. They had a picture of him on the wall in the Worcester, MA building and I was wondering if anyone knows what happened to those pictures, I'd really like to have my great grandfathers picture if possible.

My Dad worked in the power plant at CK comp. He used to bring me to work every Saturday while he tended the boilers and plant. He used to give me hair cuts in the boiler room !

We still have two working C&K weaving looms of about 1968 vintage at our textile plant in Australia. One is a 650" / 16.5m loom while the other is 500" / 12.7m loom. Both are in constant use weaving and are also utilised to teach basic weaving to new weavers. I found the dobby prone to frequent breakage given the weight of the cloth type being woven, similar to very strong macrame yarn and the dobbys were ultimately replaced with kaiser head motions which have proven completely reliable with no breakage since installed about 20 years ago.

This is all fascinating. I just came across an antique wrench, with Crompton & Knowles Loom Works embossed on it, listed on ebay. I've never heard of this company and googled it. My dad worked in silk mills most of his life.

We have a Crompton & Knowles Loom works Loom. The name plate is Providence, RI This Loom is S/N 2164. Any information is welcome ie. When built, etc. bbucher@us.ibm.com

I just bought a house and in the attic I found a couple of books of blueprints for C & K. I guess the former owner was the standards engineer.

George Crompton was my great great maternal grandfather. My mother is still alive and tells of the magnificent house the Crompton family lived in called Marimonte. It was torn down and a hospital was built in its place in the forties. While I have patent papers of several improvements made by his son-in-law Harry Worcestor Smith, I have never seen an actual loom.How wonderful for you, Ian and Bill. There is a book about his life and loomworks for more information.

I worked from 1973 untill 1981 at a zipper factory in Brazil that had several C & K needle looms in order to manufacture narrow fabric for the zipper. They were very good. I even remember a Meican consultant,Salvador Arroyo, that came several times here. Nice guy!

My great grandfather was also a foreman at C & K. He worked there from appox 1890-1920. I will be visiting Worcester this week and am hoping to find the location in which he worked. I grew up in California and have always wondered what his life in Worcester was like.

My Grandfather and father bothed worked at K & N. I guess sometime around 1947. Elie and Robert Thibeault.

One of the Crompton and Knowles buildings located at 21 Illinois St in Worcester was converted to 37 loft units 2 years ago. I am a member of the condo board, you can find out more about the building as it is today here: http://universityparklofts.blogspot.com/

There are two locations in Worcester for C&K. corner Grant & illinois streets 42.2474 -71.8180 Green street location 42.2566 -71.7963 The 5 story buildings pictures are the Grand & Illinois location. The Green Street property has 3-4 story buildings.

Mathias Arsenault had worked there for 35 yrs as a moulder - he died in 1966. I am looking to see if anyone may have a picture of him. jaquesgaudet@rogers.com

i know they made the sherman duckpin pinsetter, just wondering if anyone had anymore info on this,like prints and electrical info...thanks

My grandfather, Nathaniel 'Fred' Ward worked at Crompton and Knowles at Worcester. He was superintendant there and also had a partnership in the Worcestor Braiding Company. He died in the early 1950's, but I still remember visiting him in the summertime.

I recall that Crompton & Knowles had a private beach on Coes Pond which had a nice bathhouse, changing room and attendents on duty. In late spring during the early to mid 1950s our parents would write to the C & K office and request a season pass for the beach. All the kids in my neighborhood ( June & Chandler Sts) did the same and when summer came we would ride our bikes down a path through the woods behind Fairlawn Hospital and spend many fun hours at the beach. Great memories.

Timothy, What are you looking for exactly?

MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED AT THE PARK AT COES POND THEY WERE THE CARETAKER. MY GRANDFATHER WORK AT C&K ON GARDNER ST WERE TO THIS DAY I RUN THE BUILDINGS LOTS OF HISTORY

I have several C& K Manuals and some parts, including shuttles and pirns. I Work on Draper X3 looms in NH

Ian, Any chance of some pictures of the looms, I'm collecting anything relating to C&K and Draper Fly Shuttle Looms. Some of the Draper X3 Looms I work on have C& K Dobbies. Any Manuals or photocopies, .pdfs would be welcomed. Also looking for source of parts for same. Thanks to any and all.

Hi,we just came across this site looking for information or old pictures for the Crompton & Knowles Building located at 138 Green St., Worcester, MA. We own this building and are in the process of rehabing it back to the original and converting it into mixed use retail & condo's in the future. Please visit CromptonPlace.com

Angela,looking for prints and schematics for the sherman duckpin pinsetter. Im in the process of designing a new pinsetter for duckpins and would like some more info on the old sherman setter..any info would be great. thanks

Is this the site of the infamous unsolved murder of 17 year old South high senior, Patricia Anne Gonyea in 1984? Her body was found behind the factory in a subteranean window well.Terrible story... Hopefully some day there will be justice for Patty Anne.

J.R.,who are you and why are you questioning anything regarding the death of Patty Gonyea? That happened in 1984 and you are out here in 2010 asking if Crompton Knowles is where they found Patty?

J.R.,who are you and why, after all these years, in 2010 are you inquiring about whether or not this Crompton Knowles is the place where they found Patty Gonyea....what do you know about it?

J.R.,who are you and why, after all this time, in 2010, would you be inquiring about where the incident happened regarding Patty Gonyea? What do you know about the tragedy, anthing?

DJ, simmer down buddy. what i know about her story is what ive researched and what ive heard from a friends mother who grew up in the neighborhood with PAtty. Why would i post about her? Simply to reraise awareness that yes, even in 2010, her murder has remained unsolved. Who am i? Im a main souther and Worcester enthusiast who used to use that short cut in high school (South High), as Patty did, to get to my friends houses in the canterbury/cambrigde st. neighborhood. So when i read her story i felt a immediate connection. What i get from your posts is you may think i might know something about the case that wasnt already public knowledge. Unfortunately i dont. But i hoped by raising the subject on this forum of "Worcester Memories", it would help in rebuilding interest in the case.