Mason Machine Works, Taunton, Mass.

A 19th-century perspective of Mason Machine Works, Taunton, Mass., captured as a steel engraving and handcolored to highlight the details. Van Slyck & Co., Boston.

Mason Machine Works opened in the 1840s and operated until 1944. They primarily produced machinery for the textile industry, but during the American Civil War, they also manufactured rifles and train engines. The company is perhaps best known for the invention of the Mason's self-acting mule, a machine that spun cotton and other fibers automatically.