06/02/2026
We are excited about the unanimous vote taken by the City Council last night to name the road leading into Beverly Golf & Tennis "Matzeliger Way" in honor of Jan Ernst Matzeliger. His revolutionary invention transformed the shoe industry and helped lay the foundation for one of Beverly’s most important industrial neighbors, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation. The designation also marks a historic milestone for the city: Matzeliger Way is the first street in Beverly named for a Black man.
Born in 1852 in what is now Suriname, Jan Ernst Matzeliger immigrated to the United States and settled in Lynn, where he worked in a shoe factory. Determined to solve shoemaking's biggest challenge, he spent years developing a machine that automated the labor-intensive lasting process. In 1883, he patented the first successful automatic shoe-lasting machine, increasing production from about 50 pairs of shoes a day to as many as 700 and revolutionizing the industry.
Although Matzeliger died in 1889 at just 36 years old, his invention became one of the foundational technologies of what evolved into the United Shoe Machinery Company, helping drive the growth of the New England shoe industry for decades.
That legacy is deeply connected to Beverly. For generations, United Shoe Machinery shaped the city's economy, workforce, and industrial identity. Naming this roadway Matzeliger Way honors a brilliant inventor whose innovation helped transform an industry and whose impact helped shape Beverly itself.
This is another step in creating Beverly's Black History Trail.
