#ropemaking

[abwatt]

Wood/fiber: rope club

Wood/fiber: rope club

[rosscountyhistoricalsociety]

    This item is a nautical rope-making fid from the 19th century. It’s made of ivory, and is surprisingly heavy for its size. A fid is traditionally 21 or 22 times the diameter of the rope it’s being used to craft. The initials “H.F” have been etched on the side.

[thewestendmuseum]

Boston's Ropewalks Part 1

A digital reframing of “Ropewalks of the West End and Beyond”, an 2012 exhibit designed and written by Duane Lucia and Tom Burgess.

Read on our website.

Image: This map made by Samuel Clough c. 1920 shows 3 ropewalks along what is now Myrtle Street. (Massachusetts Historical Society)

From it’s earliest days until the late 19th century, Boston’s economy was predominantly a maritime affair, but when the puritan’s arrived in 1630, they did so with a different plan – to recreate the economic model of the Spanish imperial holdings in the Americas. The Puritans intended to mine, process and export the precious metals of New England to Europe. That plan hit a snag, however, when there were no precious metals to be found.

For a little more than a decade, the early Bostonians worked to find an alternative to mining. Eventually one presented itself, the carrying trade, in which Boston’s embryonic merchant elite began a series of disorganized enterprises that would develop into the infamous Triangle Trade, as well as the China Trade and many lesser-know trade routes.

From that point on, shipping was the key to economic success in Boston, and since shipping required ships, naval supplies – wood, cordage, caulking, and the like – became critical to the success of the city.

Establishing an Industry in the Colonial Era

Until 1640, the Massachusetts Bay Colony relied on Great Britain to supply the majority of its finished goods. Any rope or twine that was produced in the colony had to be made with locally grown flax or hemp, and was most likely produced by families for their own use with any excess being sold locally.

In 1638 the Boston area’s first “ropefields” were established in Charlestown. “Rope-maker’s Lane” ran along the town’s colonial waterfront, which is now the cite of City Square and Lynde Street. Soon Boston would have it’s own ropemakers and shipbuilders.

By 1642 shipping and its constituent industries were expanding significantly in Boston. The English Civil War reduced immigration and support from the mother country and limited imperial oversight. As a result, colonists were able to establish their own trade routes to other colonies, and even foreign nations, for the first time. These gains were further solidified during Queen Anne’s War in 1709, confirming Boston as a leading port in Colonial America.

The First Ropemakers

Nehemiah Bourne: In 1641 the shipbuilder Nehemiah Bourne came to Boston on a special permit from England and launched the Trial, Boston’s first merchant vessel. The 160-ton ship carried goods from Boston to the Azores and West Indies. Three years later he returned to England to fight in the English Civil War.

John Harrison: In 1642 John Harrison was invited to Boston to establish a cordage business. In 1666 he had acquired additional land and built a 984 foot long ropewalk. Clough’s reconstructed map of Boston in 1673 shows Harrison’s ropewalk running along modern-day Purchase Street.

Twenty years after it’s construction, in 1685, Harrison sold a 1/3 interest in his ropewalk, including the tar-house and warehouse, to James Barton.

John Heyman: In 1662 John Heyman received a license to produce fishing lines in Boston, but a year later he was ordered to stop producing rope and moved to Charlestown.

William Tilly: By 1697 at least one more ropemaker was running a successful business in Boston. Mr. William Tilly had the resources to hold slaves, and when one of them, Tom, escaped in June of 1697, Tilly advertised for his return with the promise that any would-be slavecatcher would “have Satisfaction to Content (sic).”

Tilly remained involved in the ropemaking industry into the 18th century. In 1705 he seems to have taken full control of the Harrison walk, which had moved from it’s previous location to the area between modern day Atkinson and Pearl Streets. Two years later, records show Tilly building 3 workhouses and a “shedd (sic) of 100 fathoms long and 11 foot wide”.

James Barton: In 1700, James Barton set up a ropewalk on land he was renting from the Leverett family in the New Fields (now the West End). The area became known as Barton’s Point, as it is marked on Bonner’s map (below).

Stephen Minot: Around 1700, Stephen Minot set up a ropewalk on the north slope of Beacon Hill at Ridgeway Lane.

Theodore Atkinson: The namesake of Atkinson Street, Theodore Atkinson operated a ropewalk parallel to William Tilly’s in 1705.

Edward Gray: In 1705 Edward Grey owned a ropewalk parallel to William Tilly and Theodore Atkinson’s. In 1712 he improved his facilities with a range of wood sheds 400 feet long.

Edward Carnes: In 1771 at least one more ropewalk stood in the historic West End (in the area then, and now once more, included in Beacon Hill). Edward Carnes is recorded purchasing a ropewalk on Joy Street in that year, which had begun operating sometime after 1743.

Boston c. 1640 (left) A rough and inaccurate sketch of the streets of Boston as they are supposed to have been first laid out & the owners of the soil, from 1630 to 1650 or thereabouts (Map by William Appleton, Boston Public Library), | Boston c. 1730 (right) The town of Boston in New England by John Bonner, 1723-33 (Boston Public Library)

The ropemaking industry continued to expand between the 1730’s and the Revolutionary War. By 1743 two additional ropewalks were added to William Prince’s edited version of the Bonner Map, and later maps show seven operating in the area by 1790.

Ropewalks and Revolution

In 1770, Boston’s ropewalks became one of the many places where resistance to the Crown developed into a fledgling revolution. Scuffles broke out between British soldiers and workers at the Atkinson Street ropewalks. Soon after, ropewalk workers took center stage in the Boston Massacre. Samuel Grey and Crispus Attucks were both ropewalk workers killed in the Massacre, and other workers including Jeffery Richardson and John Gray also participated in the affair.

The practice of tarring and feathering provided another intersection between the ropewalks and the revolution. The tar used in these mob attacks, which could leave severe burns that occasionally led to death, came from the city’s ropewalks. The feathers were commonly taken from household pillows, sometimes ones stolen from the afflicted person’s home.

Ropemaking in the Federalist Period

Despite numerous challenges posed by conflicts with France and Great Britain, Boston remained a major port into the latter half of the 19th century. As it’s ships circled the globe, the city’s ropemakers continued to supply the cordage required for naval vessels.

Unfortunately for Bostonians, ropemaking came with some serious drawbacks. The ropemaking process involved keeping hot tar – and corollary open flames – in the presence of numerous airborne hemp fibers. These fibers were constantly at risk of igniting, as they did at one of the Pearl Street walks on July 30, 1794. After the fire, six of the seven Pearl Street ropewalks relocated to filled land at the eastern end of the Boston Common on what is now the Public Gardens. The seventh, owned by John and Samuel Gray, moved to Charlestown. Two years later a ropewalk on the Charles owned by MacNeills burned, and that business moved to Charlestown as well.

Fires continued to threaten Boston’s ropemaking industry throughout their history, and are recorded burning ropewalks at least three times between 1795 and 1824 alone.

Despite the fires, in 1798 Boston could claim more than a dozen ropewalks, including 5 on Charles Street (Public Garden), 3-5 on Beacon Hill and another 3 on Allen Street. The Ridgeway Lane ropewalk seems to have survived to the end of the century as well, along with one on South Russell Street.

Article by Sebastian Belfanti

Source: Ropewalks of the West End and Beyond, Lucia and Burgess, The West End Museum; Boston Public Library Leventhal Collection

[swords-n-spindles]

Here's a lovely explanation of multiple-ply vs. cable ply rope making spinning! (Yes, it's cordage, but it's literally the same for yarn.)

[seaserpent-sweden]

Tried my rope machine for the first time, a bit uneven hat laid near the machine and a bit looser near the swivel. Rope on the counterweight was a bit short will make it longer tomorrow. Quite pleased with the first try. #ropemachine #ropemaking #marlinspikeseamanship #internationalguildofknottyers (på/i Kosteröarna) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZhV-8L1Jy/?utm_medium=tumblr

[fuckyeahtravelphotos]

Ropemakers’ loft, Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut

[bunk12bear]

The rope makers shop #mysticmuseum #museum #ropemaking #mysticseaport #oldbuildings #oldbuilding (at Mystic Seaport, Connecticut) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6tbAokAqp5/?igshid=zxy0dpo2akcy

[makemyindustry-blog]

Rope Making Machine And The Process Involved.

When flexible fibers are twisted together turn into rope. These fibers are now bundled and have increased tensile strength. The length of the rope is up to us. The rope has its history back to prehistoric times when the man was learning survival. He started using rope for hunting, lifting, climbing, carrying loads. These days also it has been an integral part of man’s life. From household works to the technical or heavy duty works, the rope has been used by man.

In present times, the rope is made by rope making machines though, in villages, it has been made by hands by natural fibers. The new synthetic material is used when the rope is made by industrial machines. Rope contributes mostly to fishing and Maritime industries.

By machines, three steps are involved to make rope. First, the yarn is made by twisting fibers together, in the next step yarn is twisted to form strands and finally, these strands are again twisted to form a rope. Different types of ropes are made using the different forms of twisting. The most common rope is three-strand twisted rope.

So, rope making is basically a process that involves forming fibers into yarn, then yarn into strands and these strands into rope.

Quality control

For different works different quality of rope is used depending upon the tensile strength. Quality control basically involves checking the raw material and visual inspection. When ropes are made for high-risk applications, they are closely inspected and tested.

The future of rope making

New advancements in the materials are the base for the improvements in rope making. Industrialists are trying for various configurations of ropes. They are trying to reduce the diameter of the rope yet maintaining the tensile strength of the rope. New techniques, light fibers, and research will definitely improve ropemaking.