Boston Envelope Company / Site of the 2nd Privilege

The first mill at this site, the 2nd privilege, was constructed in 1664 by Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse to grind corn.

In 1935 the mill buildings were purchased by the Boston Envelope Company and replaced with a modern ‘daylight’ factory, the current structure.

During World War II, the Boston Envelope Company contributed to the war effort by manufacturing all the envelopes that were used to mail ration books throughout New England as well as the draft board envelopes to the prospective military forces nationwide. Hundreds of different kinds of envelopes were required by the war, ranging from those that were used for pre-packaged foods to large envelopes holding confidential messages. The factory was capable of making 2,500,000 envelopes a day ranging in size from 2”x 2” to 20” x 20”. The workforce was almost entirely female at this time, as shown in the next photo. 

The Boston Envelope Company closed operations in Dedham in 1984. The building now houses Alimed, a medical supply company.

The first mill at present day Maverick Street was constructed in 1664 by Daniel Pond and Ezra Morse to grind corn. This was the second privilege on Mother Brook and as the right to dam a stream to turn a mill wheel is called a “privilege,” this area became known as the Second Privilege. During the 18^th century a leather mill was located here, followed in 1807 by the first of a long series of woolen mills under various owners. Mill workers, primarily immigrants from Ireland, Canada, Italy, and Eastern Europe, lived nearby in boarding houses, tenements, and dwellings, many of which survive today.

In 1936 the mill building was purchased by the Boston Envelope Company and replaced with a modern ‘daylight’ factory with a largely female workforce. An article in the Boston Globe from March of 1938 stated that the company had engineers study the most efficient methods in direct-line production before designing the new plant which was the “last word in ‘daylight’ factory construction.” [1]

During World War II, the Boston Envelope Company contributed to the war effort by manufacturing all the envelopes that were used to mail ration books throughout New England. They also produced all the draft board envelopes to the prospective military forces nationwide. The war effort surprisingly required hundreds of different kinds of envelopes ranging from those that were used for pre-packaged foods to large envelopes holding confidential messages. The factory was capable of making 2,500,000 envelopes a day ranging in size from 2”x 2” to 20” x 20”. At the same time, one entire section of the factory was dedicated to the production of a new product known as “envelope drinking cups”. The plant was 325 feet long and equipped with the most modern machinery capable of making 2,500,000 units of a day of envelopes and could also print 800,000 envelopes a day. 

On the west side of Maverick Street the company established Envelope Park in 1940, a landscaped garden filled with flowers and ornamental trees, traces of which still remain.

The Boston Envelope Company ceased operations in this factory in 1984 and the following year sold the property. The building is currently used to house Ali Med, Inc. a medical device company. 

1. Boston Globe July 29, 1938 "Worst of Flood Past at Dedham and Needham; Rise at Newton"