Essex National Heritage Area
Washington Street Shoe District
Haverhill, Massachusetts
  • Address: Downtown Washington Street,
    between Washington Square & Railroad Square
    Haverhill, Massachusetts
  • Map: Map
  • Trail: The Industrial Trail


The Washington Street Shoe District represents the middle period of Haverhill's shoe history. Near the end of the 18th century, shoe making as a wholesale business began in earnest, and by the middle of the 19th century, it had become the predominant industry.

Space on Merrimack Street became filled, and with the growing importance of shipping shoes by rail, manufacturers looked toward what had been a residential neighborhood for expansion - Washington Square and Street. In a ten year period (1872-1882), virtually every manufacturer had moved to this area and had replaced the wooden houses with both wooden and brick factories.

The area continued as the center of Haverhill's shoe industry through the turn of the century despite a devastating fire on the night of February 17, 1882, which leveled 10 acres of the Shoe District. In 1976, the area was accepted for inclusion as a district on the National Register of Historic Places. It was recognized as one of the finest examples of a complete street of Queen Anne industrial architecture in America.






Nearby Area Sites

Haverhill History

Haverhill's distinctive landscape features – the Merrimack River, the many ponds, wetlands and varied topography – were instrumental in shaping the history of the community from the earliest use of the area by Native Americans through the long tradition of shoe manufacturing to land uses that continue today.

Native American activity along the Merrimack River prior to European settlement was intense with several tribes known to have been in the Haverhill area, including the Pentuckets, Pawtuckets and Agawams, all sub-tribes of the Penacook group. The first European settlement took its name from one of the Native American tribes, when Pentucket was established in 1640 and one of the four shires of the plantation was called Haverhill, named after the birthplace in England of Haverhill’s first minister, John Ward. The area was not incorporated as a city until 1870, the same year in which Bradford was annexed to Haverhill.

Agriculture, fishing and shipbuilding were the economic base well into the 19th century. In the early 1800s there was a strong cattle market which gave rise to the shoe industry. By the 1830s and into the early 20th century Haverhill became a leader in shoe manufacturing. Known as the “Queen Slipper City” Haverhill was noted for its shoe designers and makers. After World War I the shoe industry began its decline in Haverhill. In the 1950s the arrival of Western Electric was a boost to the local economy; however the large plant moved out of Haverhill in the late 20th century.

The Merrimack River served as a key mode of transportation from prehistoric times into the early 19th century. Once the railroad opened in 1839 there was a shift in transportation which also fostered the shift in the economy to the shoe industry. Mid 20th century interstate highway development resulted in the city’s strategic location between Rt. 93 and Rt. 95 on Rt. 495.

One of the larger municipalities in Essex County, Haverhill’s population by 1850 had risen to 5,754 and continued to increase substantially throughout the 19th century. Between 1880 and 1920 the population more than tripled to 53,884. However, as the shoe industry declined, the population decreased slowly but steadily throughout much of the 20th century until the 1990s when it recovered and exceeded the 1920 level. In 2000 the population was nearly 59,000.

From Haverhill Reconnaisance Report, Essex County Landscape Inventory, Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program (pdf document)

See also:

1985 Massachusetts Historical Commission Reconnaissance Survey Town Report

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