CantonMA_web

ship bottoms, referred to as “sheathing” or “coppering”, helped increase the speed and lifespan of ships. Copper, specifically, was desired for this process due to the fact that it reacts with seawater to create an oxide coating that prevents the build-up of barnacles, weeds, and other detritus, in addition to physically stopping worms from burrowing into and degrading the wood. But even though Revere had earned a comfortable living as a silver and gold- smith, and later as an the owner and operator of a iron and brass foundry, this new copper venture involved considerable financial risk, as his copper rolling process was still in the development stage and he hadn’t yet secured the rights to use the waters of the nearby Neponset River to power his factory. Luckily, in addition to his own investment of $25,000, the U.S. gov- ernment loaned Revere another $10,000 as well as 19,000 tons of copper to start his new Canton firm, and with the water power issue resolved, within a few years, the Boston artist, industrialist, and patriot became the first American to successfully roll copper into sheets in a commercially viable manner. Revere landed his first major contract in 1802 - an order for 6,000 feet of copper sheathing to cover the dome of the rela- tively new State House in Boston. A year later, the company was commissioned to provide copper sheathing to protect the CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS AT A GLANCE CANTON, MASSACHUSETTS WHAT: A town of 21,000 WHERE: 15 miles southwest of Boston WEBSITE: www.town.canton . ma.us hull of the U.S.S. Constitution or “Old Ironsides.” In sub- sequent years, Revere’s company manufactured copper boilers for Robert Fulton’s early experimental steam- ships, turned out muskets and brass cannons for the War of 1812, and manufactured the copper dome of the New York City Hall. In 1804, son, Joseph Warren Revere, moved the fami- ly’s bell-making foundry to Canton from Boston, after a great gale blew its roof off, there. In addition to copper rolling, the Reveres continued to manufacture hundreds of their famous, cast-iron church bells in Canton until the middle of the 19th century. Revere also established a second home on the factory site, spending the sum- mers in Canton, where he and his descendants played an important role in the town’s political, social, and economic life. In 1909, the Revere foundry was bought by the Plym- outh Rubber Company, which owned it until 2006. “When they left, it was a very large parcel of contami-