C. E. Welch 1910
Back to Westfield. Grace Bedell may be Westfield's best known resident but C. E. Welch is arguably its most important.
Dr. Charles E. Welch, like his father Thomas, was a teetotaling dentist. Thomas was also a Methodist minister who believed that grape juice, not wine, should be used for communion. Unlike wine, grape juice didn't keep well in the mid-1800s so Thomas worked on ways to preserve the juice without fermentation, finally settling on pasteurization. As their grape juice became more popular Charles set out to find a better grape growing region than Vineland, New Jersey. In 1897 he had settled on Westfield and that's where he incorporated the Welch’s Grape Juice Company.
The original Welch's factory is up the street. This building was the long time headquarters. The company headquarters has since moved to Waltham, Massachusetts and this building has been vacant for years. It was announced just weeks ago that funding has been secured to renovate the building into senior apartments and commercial space.
C. E. Welch 1910
Back to Westfield. Grace Bedell may be Westfield's best known resident but C. E. Welch is arguably its most important.
Dr. Charles E. Welch, like his father Thomas, was a teetotaling dentist. Thomas was also a Methodist minister who believed that grape juice, not wine, should be used for communion. Unlike wine, grape juice didn't keep well in the mid-1800s so Thomas worked on ways to preserve the juice without fermentation, finally settling on pasteurization. As their grape juice became more popular Charles set out to find a better grape growing region than Vineland, New Jersey. In 1897 he had settled on Westfield and that's where he incorporated the Welch’s Grape Juice Company.
The original Welch's factory is up the street. This building was the long time headquarters. The company headquarters has since moved to Waltham, Massachusetts and this building has been vacant for years. It was announced just weeks ago that funding has been secured to renovate the building into senior apartments and commercial space.