The Elgin National Watch Company: The Factory That Built a Town
For nearly a century, Elgin made watches for the whole country, half of all American pocket watches by one account. The rise of the Elgin National Watch Company, its observatory, WWII work, and the end.
Long before "Elgin" meant the Grand Victoria or the Fox River Trail, it meant one thing to the rest of the country: watches. For nearly a hundred years, the Elgin National Watch Company was the heart of the town, and for a while, one of the most important factories in America.
Starting in 1864
The company was organized in 1863 and incorporated in 1864 as the National Watch Company, with its factory on the Fox River in Elgin, about 30 miles northwest of Chicago. The factory was finished in 1866, and it grew into the world's largest site devoted to watchmaking for nearly a century. The name "Elgin" soon became the company's own.
Half the country's pocket watches
The Elgin factory produced a huge share of America's watches: by one account, half of all the pocket watches made in the United States. Railroad men, farmers and city folks carried Elgins. The factory's clock tower was the town's landmark.
The observatory
To keep its watches precise, the company built the Elgin National Watch Company Observatory in 1910, using the stars to set exact time for the factory. The observatory still stands in Elgin.
World War II
During WWII, Elgin stopped making civilian watches and switched to defense work: military watches, marine chronometers, fuzes for artillery shells, altimeters and aircraft instruments.
The end of an era
After the war, the American watch industry struggled against cheaper imports and changing technology. The original Elgin factory had become outdated, and it closed in 1964. In 1966 the plant, including its famous clock tower, was torn down. Company offices stayed in a leased building in Elgin until about 1970.
Why it still matters
The watch company shaped Elgin: its neighborhoods, its streets, its families. Many local families have a grandparent or great-grandparent who worked "at the watch." Collectors around the world still seek out Elgin watches today.
More Fox Valley and Chicagoland history: Kiddieland in Melrose Park and Riverview Park.
Source (1)
Photo: Elgin National Watch Co. plant LCCN2007660826 by unknown, Public domain.