Decline and Legacy
With the demise of the northern textile industry during the 1920s, Mason was reduced to producing mostly spare parts for the machines which it had sold previously to an ever-decreasing number of textile manufacturers. By the 1930s, portions of the site were occupied by Grossman's Lumber Company and the Southern New England Terminals trucking company.
The Mason Machine Works finally went out of business in 1944.
Grossman's continued to occupy much of the former Mason property until late 1960s, when the property became earmarked for demolition by the City of Taunton, as part of an urban renewal project. The site was vacated by October 1969.
However, with demolition slated to begin, the complex was destroyed by fire on December 30, 1970.
Today the site is occupied by a bus depot and garage, an apartment building and other businesses. A portion of the site remains open and has not been redeveloped, due to likely soil contamination issues associated with the Machine Works operations.
Read more about this topic: Mason Machine Works
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