Sweet History: Dorchester and the Chocolate ... - Bostonian Society

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SWEET HISTORY: Dorchester and the Chocolate Factorywww.bostonhistory.org/bakerschocolate/LOWER MILLS TODAYWhen the Baker’s operations moved to Dover, Delaware, in 1965, over fourteen acres ofland and buildings emptied. Some of the mills housed small manufacturing companiesand commercial activities in the years that followed, but many of the mill buildings stoodempty or underused for decades. The 1980s brought new hope for the Baker’s complex.The buildings gained National Register status, ambitious plans were initiated to revitalizethe entire Lower Mills industrial center, and the Adams Street Mill was redeveloped intoapartments. Due to the difficulty in funding a wide range of projects, not all of the proposedimprovements came to fruition. Some projects were abandoned, some redefined,and some delayed. But today, the characteristic Baker’s buildings that have dominated theLower Mills for over two centuries are starting to have new life, even as they continue torepresent Dorchester and Milton’s industrial past.When Baker’s Left DorchesterIn 1960 the General Foods Corporation proposed consolidating four northeastern plantoperations into one major food division in one East Coast location. Even though Baker’shad a long established history in Dorchester, it was one of the companies considered forintegration. The plan was to bring together several brands into one, modern facility tostreamline production and increase profits. 165In 1962 General Foods decided on Dover, Delaware, as the new location for consolidatedoperations, due to Dover’s lower property and employment tax rates, its close proximityto major shipping ports and New York businesses, lower wages, and low utility and operatingcosts. Baker’s was chosen for consolidation, and plans to transition the company began.Out of the four brands moved to Dover, Baker’s proved to be the most difficult. Themove had to be done in three phases; otherwise, not enough chocolate inventory could bestored to buffer the lag time during a shutdown-and-move period. In 1963 phase one beganand new machinery was installed in Dover while the Dorchester factory kept operating.Over the next two years phase two cut Dorchester’s annual production in half while theDover plant started up production. The final phase, in 1965, transferred all remainingoperations to the Dover site. The entire move took a surprising 180 full truckloads ofequipment to complete. Baker’s Chocolate would never be made in Dorchester again. 166With the move to Delaware, Baker’s became part of the General Foods Jell-O division.The new Dover facility was expected to employ a total of approximately 1,600 peopleand Baker’s workers were given the option of transferring to Dover. Those who chose tostay in Dorchester received financial “termination” allowances and job-placement assistance.Of the 825 employees at Baker’s in 1962, only 187 transferred to Dover, 11 went to other 165 Edmund S. White and W. James Schmidt, Plant Relocation: A Case History of a Move (New York:American Management Association, 1966) 5, 16. 166 White and Schmidt, Plant Relocation, 42-46, 80, 83-84.48 of 76© 2005 The Bostonian Society. Nothing from the site can be reproduced without specific written permission issued by:The Bostonian Society • 206 Washington Street • Boston, MA 02109-1773. Any questions, call 617-720-1713.
SWEET HISTORY: Dorchester and the Chocolate Factorywww.bostonhistory.org/bakerschocolate/General Foods facilities, 293 took advantage of the termination allowances, and 455either retired or resigned. 167Although the Baker’s move from Dorchester did not have a significant effect on theeconomy of the greater Boston area, it did impact the local economy, as well as the culturalidentity, of the Dorchester Lower Mills. While neighborhood newspapers mourned theloss of an institution that had been a source of pride for the community, the larger economicissue was what to do with the empty mill buildings that dominated the landscape of theLower Mills. Not surprisingly, many buildings were left vacant for months and years.Eventually some housed light manufacturing, while others were used for storage.It would be fifteen years before a large-scale plan was developed to successfully reuse themill buildings. 168Early Revitalization EffortsIn 1978 a vision was proposed to revitalize the Lower Mills. The Boston RedevelopmentAuthority commissioned a plan, a year in the making, to turn Lower Mills into an IndustrialHeritage State Park. The planners believed that by reinvigorating the entire neighborhoodrather than renovating a few buildings, by focusing on the rich history of the LowerMills, and by introducing more diverse activities and businesses, “families and firms, thehome-owners and small businessmen will feel more confident about the future of theirpersonal and financial investment in the neighborhood.” A step in bringing the communitytogether in this task was the 1978 nomination by the Massachusetts Historical Commissionof the Lower Mills Industrial District, which included Baker’s Mills, for the NationalRegister of Historic Places. In 1980 the nomination was accepted. 169While the community wanted to redevelop the area around the mills, the three owners ofthe fourteen acres where Baker’s once stood were divided. Two owners, the FabreekaManufacturing Company and Berger Manufacturing Company, had no interest in renovatingand reusing the buildings they owned. The third, Bertram Paley, who owned 61% of theproperty, was willing to work with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. By 1979 plansto develop the mill complex revolved around a mix of private reuse, such as housing andsmall businesses, and public recreational use, envisioned as a Heritage Park with a visitor’scenter, a history museum, parks, waterfront paths for walking and bike riding, and docksat the river’s edge. 170 167 White and Schmidt, Plant Relocation, 97, 115; New York Times, 6 September 1962, 6 May 1965, 168 White and Schmidt, Plant Relocation, 127. 169 Boston Redevelopment Authority, Dorchester Lower Mills. An Urban Village in the 1980’s: A RevitalizationStrategy, prepared for BRA by Harrington, Keefe & Schork in association with Skidmore, Owings, andMerrill (Boston: City of Boston, 1979) 3; Ann Armstrong and Joyce Bruckner, and others, Future Directions forLower Mills, (Dorchester, MA: privately printed, 1980) 11. Self-published booklet located at Boston Public Library,Lower Mills Branch, Dorchester, MA.; National Register of Historic Places, “National Register InformationSystem,” National Park Service [online]; available from http://www.nr.nps.gov/; Internet, accessed 6 Nov 2005. 170 Argus, 16 August 1979. Newspaper clipping from Argus in anonymous scrapbook in the collectionsat the Boston Public Library, Lower Mills Branch, Dorchester, MA; Boston Redevelopment Authority, DorchesterLower Mills, 32.49 of 76© 2005 The Bostonian Society. Nothing from the site can be reproduced without specific written permission issued by:The Bostonian Society • 206 Washington Street • Boston, MA 02109-1773. Any questions, call 617-720-1713.
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