Fort Point Channel area becomes the center of the U.S. woolen and worsted industry.

During the period 1920 to 1946, the textile industry fluctuated greatly – cast down by an agricultural depression that began in 1920, then recovery, then the Great Depression, followed by prosperity during World War II. After 1947, the industry went into a steep and irreversible decline as a result of competition for the southern states and the increasing use of synthetic fibers. In 1947, over half of the nation’s establishments (453) and nearly two-thirds of all production workers in the wool and worsted industry (about 105,000 employees) were located in New England. Twelve years later, in 1958, the number of establishments had fallen 41% and employment had dropped a stunning 71%.