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30 W o r c e s t e r 3 0 0 : C i t y o f I n n o v a t o r s 1822-1921 I t was the startup's dream arrangement – manufacturing rooms for rent with power. Tenants could start small, with minimal overhead, and grow. e most successful might buy the building they'd rented. Charles Washburn, in his sweeping 1917 account, Industrial Worcester, stated without these incubators, "many individuals, companies and corporations doing today a prosperous business would never have started." Behind the rent-a-shops were financers such as Stephen Salisbury II, who leased the Old Court Mill to Samuel Davis in 1832. Tenants included companies with names we might recognize today such as Coes, Nourse, and Flagg. When the building burned in October 1839, Salisbury contracted with W.T. Merrifield to rebuild by Jan. 1, 1840. Facing bricklaying labor and weather difficulties, and one tenant (Ruggles, Nourse & Mason) threatening to move out if the rebuild wasn't ready by the new year, Salisbury offered to let Merrifield out of the contract, but Merrifield held fast and the deadline was met. Merrifield built properties on Union and Early incubators A handful of industrial buildings help young companies find their footing Exchange Street in Worcester, constructed of brick and powered by overhead belts connected to steam engines. e first came online in 1847, with additions made every year until the fire of 1854, displacing 50 tenants and throwing a reported 1,000 employees out of work. Merrifield immediately reordered a new steam engine and rebuilt, and the complex reopened in seven months. By 1859, the complex had bounced back, harboring more than 50 firms each employing as few as two and as many as 80 workers. e Salisburys built the Grove Street Wire Mill for Ichabod Washburn, making upgrades from 1834 to 1844, additions at a cost of $15,560, and an 1850 addition at $59,539. A Prescott Street building went up in 1874 for $98,823. Sixteen Union Street, built by Salisbury II in 1882-1883, was sold to the Wire Goods Co. in 1892. Forty-nine Union Street at the corner of Market Street was built in 1882 for Worcester Barb Fence Co. Stephen Salisbury II An 1854 fire displaced 50 tenants and threw a reported 1,000 out of work. Merrifield ordered a new steam engine and rebuilt in seven months. By 1859 the compl had bounced back. Images | Worcester Historical Museum