A glimpse of Waltham 100 years ago

As 2025 draws to a close, it’s fascinating to reflect on what was going on in our city 100 years ago. The Waltham Museum — a rich trove of artifacts and information about city history — shared some fun facts of those bygone times.

In 1925, Waltham’s population was 34,926 — just over half its population today — and was a hub for the watch and clock industry, centered on the Waltham Watch Company. The company produced many products ranging from high-quality pocket watches to decorative banjo clocks. That year also saw the beginnings of the high-tech industry as Raytheon established a plant here in the late 1920s, working initially with household battery technology improvements. The company would later play a significant role in other technological advancements such as radar systems. 

City Hall groundbreaking

Waltham’s current City Hall building broke ground in 1925. Dedicated in 1927, Waltham City Hall was designed by Kilham, Hopkins and Greeling in the colonial revival style and features a limestone façade. The building stands on the former site of Rumford Hall, constructed in 1827 to house the Rumford Institute, which offered arts and science classes for the city’s female mill workers and established Waltham’s first circulating library. The Town of Waltham purchased the building in 1854 for use as its town hall before replacing it with the current structure.

Major companies

The Waltham Watch Company was Waltham’s most famous company. It was a world leader in timepiece manufacturing, pioneering the use of mass production and interchangeable parts. During the 1920s, the company began to experience financial troubles that would eventually lead to its closure in 1957.

The Boston Manufacturing Company was a key driver of the industrial revolution in the United States, operating the first factory to perform all steps of cotton textile production under one roof. While still active in 1925, the company was struggling financially and would go out of business just five years later.

Metz Company was an automobile manufacturing company founded by Charles Metz.The company produced bicycles, motorcycles and automobiles, but ceased production by the mid-1920s.

Grover Cronin, Inc., initially a truck-front tea shop founded in 1885, expanded into a full department store by the early 1930s and served as a prominent local retailer until it closed in 1989. 

Other businesses in 1925

The Waltham Museum shared the following list of other local companies. If you have stories or memorabilia about these and other early Waltham businesses, please share in the Comments section.

• Ames Precision Machine Works, a tool and machinery company.
• American Knitting Company, a textile company.
• O’Hara Waltham Dial Company, a satellite company supporting the watch industry.
• W.H. Nichols and Sons, a manufacturing company that built a reputation for precision manufacturing. Their work was vital to the Allied war effort in both world wars.
• Finkenbeiner Glass Shop, a local glass manufacturer.
• G. F. Frost Coal Company, a local supplier of coal.
• Waltham Coal Company,  a local supplier of coal.
• Wm. H. Johnson, an insurance provider.
• W.D. McWain, a local grocer.
• Waltham Emery Wheel Company, a manufacturer of emery wheels and emery cloth. It was started by Henry Richardson.
• Several grocery chains with multiple locations in the city, including Economy Grocery Stores, A&P, Co-operative Grocery Stores and Ginter.