Manufacturing in New Hartford

New Hartford has a proud manufacturing history spanning nearly two centuries.
In the 1830’s the Chapin company, located in Pine Meadow on Wickett and No. Ten Street, was one of the first North American companies to make precision carpenter’s rules. These tools, made of Persian boxwood and Indian ivory, had previously been imported from the United Kingdom; they were required for any precision woodworking, including fine cabinetry, furniture making, house construction, and ship building. Chapin company shipped them throughout the United States.
In the 1890’s the Greenwoods company made heavy canvas. The company had numerous contracts, including the US government; however, its canvas was most notable in the America’s Cup Yacht races. These races, and other yacht races held along the East Coast, employed cutting edge technology, as they still do today. Canvas from New Hartford was used on competitive yachts and at least one Cup winner.
In the twentieth century, Ovation Guitars was established in the old Greenwoods Industrial park. This company has carried the tradition of fine manufacturing into the twenty-first century, with world-class guitars used in every musical genre.