Francis Cabot Lowell was largely responsible, however, for raising the state to its manufacturing eminence.
The slowdown was also related to unification, which wholly revealed the economic deficiencies of East Germany the extent of its technological backwardness, its low productivity, and the faltering state of its manufacturing plants.
But he hopes recent signs of renewal will help persuade voters to give him a second term to pursue an agenda of improving education and taking the state beyond its manufacturing past.
Evergreen Solar, the recipient of tens of millions of dollars in state support, moved its manufacturing facility to China before filing for bankruptcy protection.
When California is compared with the entire country rather than a hand-picked group of alleged rival states, he says, its manufacturing job losses rank in the middle.
Even as it became a high-tech state, Oregon never lost its manufacturing base, and in some ways it is paying a price for its reliance on an industry prone to swings in demand.
Experts say a retooling is in order if the state hopes to expand its manufacturing industry.
The Original American Kazoo Company's museum in Eden, near Buffalo, and the Slate Museum in Granville, north of Albany, are also tributes to a time when the state was known for its manufacturing muscle and creativity.
The agency released a warning letter sent to Merck's chief executive, Richard T. Clark, that states its inspectors had determined that manufacturing rules were not being followed at the plant in West Point, Pa., just outside Philadelphia.
Earlier this week, Markit/Cips said its final estimate of the state of manufacturing in July was even more negative than its flash estimate released a little less than a fortnight ago.
