Converse Businesses in the West End

In 2015 Converse Inc. moved its world headquarters to Lovejoy Wharf in the West End. Its 214,000 square foot facility was a major part of an effort to rejuvenate the former industrial area bordering the Charles River and the North End. This was, however, not the first time a business founded by members of the Converse family chose the West End as an advantageous place to set up business.

Approximately 200 years later, in Malden, Massachusetts, not far from Woburn, direct descendants of Deacon Edward Convers, James Wheaton Converse (1808-1894) and his brother Elisha Slade Converse (1820-1904), founded the Boston Rubber Shoe Co. in 1853. From their original factory in Malden, and later a second in Melrose, the Converse brothers grew their business, so that “by 1910, the Boston Rubber Shoe Co. had grown to a capitalization of $5 million, employing 3,500 people at both factories, and producing a daily output of 55,000 pairs of rubber boots and shoes.” At its zenith, Boston Rubber Shoe would become the largest shoe manufacturer in the world, and for a time its main office was in the West End.

From the 1880’s until the late 1930’s, Boston Rubber shoe and the Converse family owned or operated from properties along the odd 200 block of Causeway Street. In the 1880’s Boston Rubber Shoe Co. bought the property at then 245 Causeway Street (numbered 239 today) where it established its general office, saleroom, and warehouse. Records show that the company continued to own this property until at least 1895, after which it is unclear whether it continued to do business from that site. In 1898, Boston Rubber Shoe, led by Harry E. Converse (James died in 1894 and Harry’s father Elisha had gone blind) finally merged with the U.S. Rubber Co., after being pursued by the latter for decades. In 1900, the E.S. Converse Estate, managed by Harry, purchased the 249-265 block of Causeway Street (251 Causeway Street today), one block next to the company’s former main office.

Though Boston Rubber Shoe continued to produce at a lesser scale until its closing in the 1930’s, it is unclear whether it actually continued to do business on the 249-265 block of Causeway Street, or if the Converse presence was only as a landlord.  After owning the property for only two years, the Converse estate sold it in 1902 to businessman James H. Beal, whose estate then sold it in 1906 to John A. Lowell and Carlton Hunneman, trustees of the Keany Square Building Trust.  This trust built the Keany Square Building in 1906-1907 which still stands at 251 Causeway Street today. Ten years later the block and building was again registered under the ownership of Harry E. Converse and the Elisha S. Converse Estate until 1938.  It seems clear that this last holding was for investment purposes only.

While the Boston Rubber and Shoe was still dealing in West End real estate, distant cousin, Marquis Mills Converse, founded his own shoe business, the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden in 1908. Initially “a rubber shoe manufacturer, providing winterized rubber soled footwear for men, women, and children,” in 1915 the company began producing basketball shoes.  After hiring basketball player Chuck Taylor as a promoter of its athletic line, and developing a more comfortable basketball shoe based on Taylor’s recommendations, the iconic Chuck Taylor shoe was born and the company’s fortunes skyrocketed. In 2015, one hundred years after Marquis Mills Converse developed his first sports shoe, Converse Inc. moved its global headquarters to the West End at Lovejoy Wharf. A plaque at its entrance recognizes the Converse family’s long history in the neighborhood.

The story of the Converse family’s association with the West End speaks to the economic advantages the neighborhood has held for most of its history. Strategically situated along the Charles River between Boston’s city center and points north and west, the West End has historically been a transportation route for people and goods moving to and from the economic center of Boston over ferry, bridge, canal, and train.  The West End’s proximity to downtown has also made it an attractive destination for residents and businesses alike. It is these factors and others, recognized by different generations of Converse family built enterprises, which continue to hold out a promising future for the West End.