Community Corner
R.H. Long, Automobiles and Historic Framingham
Thousands of cars were built in Framingham, thanks in part to R.H. Long and General Motors.
In 1901, Richard H. Long of Weymouth bought a four-story empty factory building on the corner of Waverley and Mellen streets because he needed more space to accommodate his shoe manufacturing business.
That space sufficed for eight years when Long built an even bigger factory on the north side of the railroad tracks near Fountain Street. This was just the beginning of R.H. Long’s career in Framingham.
During World War I, Long retooled his factories to manufacture leather products for the army. To accommodate the extra workers needed, he bought the Kendall Hotel. He was involved in philanthropic works and Massachusetts Democratic Party politics. He established the Boston Telegraph newspaper, which he used to win the Democratic nomination for governor in 1918. Calvin Coolidge carried the day but Long moved right onto to his next enterprise. He was meant to manufacture automobiles!
First, he bought the Bela Body Company and moved it to Framingham. They manufactured car bodies for the Franklin Motor Company. Later that factory would become part of the Dennison complex. The building on Fountain Street was retooled again; this time for automobile production. The Bay State Automobile was born there in 1922. Approximately 3,000 cars, give or take 500 were produced between 1922 and 1926. There were two models, a six and an eight cylinder in a variety of body styles. Prices ranged from $1,800 to $2,500. But the automobile industry required deep pockets and in 1924, to stay afloat, Long began sharing his plant with the Luxor Cab Manufacturing Company. That company bought out Long’s operation in 1925. Within another two years, they too were forced to close.
By 1927, the irrepressible Mr. Long had reorganized his remaining shoe business on Mellen Street as the R.H. Long Motor Sales Company with a franchise to sell Cadillacs and Pontiacs. This business remained in Framingham for decades. Only in recent years did the dealership relocate to Southboro.
The other chapter in automobile manufacturing in Framingham’s history began in the late forties. To meet the demand for automobiles following World War II, General Motors Corporation decided to build a plant on 176 acres in South Framingham. The parcel included the Framingham Airport, so that was the end of that enterprise. During its peak, the plant employed 3,500 people working in two shifts. By the time the plant was closed permanently in 1987, more than four million Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, Buicks and Chevrolets had been assembled there. Today the uses the old GM site on Western Avenue for their automobile auction and remarketing business.
