Beacon Shoe

Beacon Shoe

Francis M. Hoyt had started in the shoe business in Haverhill, Massachusetts. In 1884 he built a factory in Raymond, New Hampshire. When his factory burned in 1892, he decided to move the business to the The Twin Towers building, which was constructed by the Queen City Land and Building Association in an effort to attract shoe companies to Manchester.

F.M. Hoyt Shoe Co. immediately became the city’s largest shoe manufacturer, which it remained for 20 years. It made shoes only for men and boys. In its early years, around 300 people were employed in the building, with the capacity to produce 2,400 pairs of McKay brand shoes daily. In three years the company doubled its workforce, and built the second factory across the street. The work force quickly increased to 1,400, producing 9,600 pairs of shoes a day. In 1904 the company began naming their product “Beacon Shoes” and started an aggressive publicity campaign that helped make this one of the best selling shoe lines in the country.

The F. M. Hoyt Shoe Company survived into the 1930s, but by 1942 it was out of business.

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