The building at 29 Water Street, former home to L.B. Evans Son Co. Shoe Manufacturers, was built as a three-story, 60' by 40' building in 1894. Founded in 1841 by Lucius Bolles Evans in a building at the at the rear of a dwelling house at 9 Salem Street, the shoe manufacturing shop moved to 8 Salem Street in 1884. In 1894, Lucius' son, Harvey B. Evans built the new shoemaking factory on the site formerly occupied by the Episcopal Church, employing 80 people.The company was incorporated as the L.B. Evans' Son Company in 1905 by Harvey Evans' sons following his death. A 40' addition and a fourth story were added somewhere around 1904, with many other additions made over the years, bringing the total square footage to 117,000 sq. ft when the final addition was completed in the late 1960s. Once recognized as the oldest shoe manufacturing concern in the United States and the oldest industry in Wakefield, the company and its building were purchased by a Fitchburg Company in 1979 and the company began to be phased out in 1980, eventually closing around 1987. The company was best known for its slippers and casual shoes in its later years. Although it appeared that the Burche Manufacturing Company was located in the L.B. Evans building, the angle of this photograph made it appear that the company's sign was on the building, according to a press statement on the back of the photograph. Photo courtesy of Bob McLaughlin
