The Rise & Fall of the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Factory in JP (Event Video)

Fifty years ago, in February 1976, a suspicious fire consumed a massive old factory building at the corner of Centre and Bickford Streets in JP. Displacing roughly a hundred artists-in-residence, the old factory had once been home to the Thomas G. Plant Shoe Company, employing up to five thousand workers at its peak. Marking the 50th anniversary of that devastating fire, this presentation explores the origins of the Plant shoe factory in 1896 and its mercurial French Canadian owner, Thomas Plant, known for his pioneering business and corporate welfare practices. It also discusses the thousands of immigrant workers who labored there and sometimes challenged Plant’s anti-union policies.

This video is from a talk given by Dr. Lynn Johnson for the Jamaica Plain Historical Society on February 7, 2026. The event was held at Spontaneous Celebrations, 45 Danforth Street. Click on the triangle below to watch the presentation.