- Thomas Gustave Plant
Thomas Gustave Plant (1859-1941) was a French-Canadian immigrant who made his fortune manufacturing shoes under the
Queen Quality Shoes label. His largest shoe factory, the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory (1896-1976) in Roxbury (nowJamaica Plain ), Massachusetts, stood at [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=centre+street+and+bickford+street,+jamaica+plain+02130 the corner of Centre and Bickford streets] . Marketing materials from the factory proclaimed it to be the largest shoe factory in the world.Tom Plant: The Making of a Franco-American Entrepreneur, 1859-1941 (Studies in Entrepreneurship), by Barry Hatfield Rodrigue, Garland Publishing (1994), ISBN 0-8153-0988-0.]The factory boasted numerous innovations and amenities for its workers, including an adjacent park at the corner of Centre and Walden streets. The park was designed by
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. , and completed in 1913. [http://www.nps.gov/frla/archives.htm Olmsted Archives] , Job Number 03792, Thomas G. Plant Company, Roxbury, Massachusetts (09 Grounds of Commercial & Industrial Buildings).]Plant used his fortune to build Lucknow, an estate on a mountain overlooking
Lake Winnipesaukee in Moultonborough,New Hampshire . It is now known as "Castle in the Clouds" and is tourist attraction.The factory changed hands several times in the 20th century, and by the 1970s was used as artist workspaces.
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