In 1885, seven Worcester entrepreneurs bought the patent for a grinding wheel from Frank Norton, owner of the Water Street Pottery Shop, where the formula for the grinding wheel had been invented. And, Norton Company was born. The founders purchased land in the city’s Greendale section, which was then farmland, and built their first grinding wheel plant. Norton has occupied that land ever since where two of the founders, John Jeppson and Milton Higgins, their sons, and grandsons, then managed the company until the 1970s. In 1990, Norton was acquired by Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest industrial companies. Saint-Gobain began an ambitious program of acquisitions and joint ventures to strengthen its North American business, and undertook extensive modernization in Worcester. Over the next several decades, we would build our North American center of R&D excellence in Northboro, MA and revitalize the Norton name with endorsement of the Saint-Gobain name in our logo to allow both well-known names to become more recognizable in the marketplace. After over 130 years, the world headquarters for the Abrasives business remains in Worcester and we continue to maintain our entrepreneurial spirit as we focus on our continued evolution to bring solutions to our customers with choices that matter to them
