L. F. Fales Machine Company

L. F. Fales Machine Company. . , Charles Fales (1826-1898) began his career as a machinist at the Lewis Batting Company (later Kendall Mills). He invented a multiple needle "maniflex" sewing machine that could be used for making mattresses and carpet linings. In 1894, he launched his own business in a room at the Lewis Batting Company on West Street., Lewis Fisher Fales (1861-1930) inherited his father's business in 1898 and moved to a building at the corner of Elm and East Streets. L. F. Fales greatly enlarged the building until it covered the block from Glenwood Avenue to Elm Street. It was a supplier of machinery to many textile and paper industries including Bird and Son, and Kendall Mills. The Fales building also had a foundry which produced castings for industries. One of Fales major accounts was Walpole's Bird-Johnson Company on Norfolk Street. At its height L. F. Fales Machine was a major employer in the town., The company went out of business in Walpole in the 1980s, after which the building was re-purposed for various businesses and was often referred to as "The Foundry". In 2017, the massive, timber-framed building, which once contained Fales offices and work spaces, was razed and replaced with apartments. The Charles Fales Fund, a bequest of Lewis and Sarah Fales, still funds college scholarships for Walpole students.