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East Cambridge led, not to mention innovated in, the manufacture of coffin and caskets

By Beth Folsom, 2025

Brothers William and David Lockhart established their coffin- and casket-making factory on Bridge Street in East Cambridge in 1854. Woodworking shops of many varieties already existed in the neighborhood, and the Lockhart brothers themselves had a brief foray into the world of cabinet-making before turning their attention to caskets. What began in the mid-19th century as a humble family business would within a few decades become one of the leading coffin producers in the region.

As with so many other industries in East Cambridge, coffin-making was an example of a necessary activity whose end products Cantabrigians wanted or needed (along with meat processing, glass making and rail yards), but whose production was deemed too dirty, messy or odorous for the wealthier residential areas of the city.

When the Lockhart Co. was established, the culture surrounding death and burial was one in which the dead were usually laid out for visitation at home briefly before being taken to the cemetery for final rites. Embalming was not yet common, and the time and expense it required meant that it was reserved for the wealthy. It was not until the Civil War that a streamlined embalming process emerged, driven in large part by the desire of families to preserve the bodies of fallen soldiers for them to be transported – often over long distances – for burial in their hometowns. After the war, the availability of less expensive and more expedient methods of embalming, along with the rise of a Victorian-era emphasis on grief and mourning culture, led to the rise of the modern mortuary industry in which most families chose to have their loved ones embalmed, laid out for visitation at a funeral parlor and buried in a casket that reminded mourners of a comfortable bed rather than a stark wooden box.

old advertisement for "W. L. LOCKHART, Manufacturer and Dealer in CASKETS BLACK WALNUT AND WHITEWOOD COFFINS." It also lists "Thibet, Lawn, and Cambric Robes, etc." and "Black and White Covered Broadcloth Caskets." The ad states that items are "FURNISHED AT SHORT NOTICE" and provides the address: "199, 201, 203, 205, 207, and 209 Bridge St., EAST CAMBRIDGE." An illustration of a horse-drawn hearse is featured in the upper right corner of the advertisement. — An advertisement for the Lockhart Coffin & Casket Co. in the 1875 Cambridge City Directory. Courtesy Cambridge Public Library.

William Lockhart was born in Nova Scotia in 1827, where he worked as a carpenter’s apprentice before moving to Boston to work for a coffin manufacturing company. After working alongside his brother for four years at their plant in East Cambridge, Lockhart bought out his brother’s share of the company and operated it as a sole proprietorship. In 1860, a massive fire resulted in the loss of his original building, but Lockhart used this as an opportunity to buy land on the north side of Bridge Street, at the corner of Third Street. By 1870, he had acquired the entire block of Bridge Street between Third and Water streets and expanded his offerings to include undertaking as well as casket manufacturing. Lockhart’s factory, showroom and even the stables for his hearses were decorated with elaborate woodwork details, harkening back to his training as a carpenter and highlighting the decorative elements that were now part of the funerary industry.

By the late 1870s, Lockhart employed nearly 70 workers and made an average 60 caskets per day that the firm sold locally and shipped to other parts of the country and even overseas. A decade later, the company opened showrooms in Boston, and its East Cambridge plant employed more than 150 workers using machinery as well as hand-carving techniques. Lockhart’s biggest innovation was a patented casket with a fold-down side – almost reminiscent of a daybed rather than a coffin – with the deceased in repose on a comfortable upholstered lining.

In addition to his manufacturing block, Lockhart bought four dwellings on Water Street to serve as housing for some of the men who worked at his factory. Although Lockhart was doubtless motivated, at least in part, by what he saw as a profitable investment in East Cambridge real estate, it is significant to note that his was the only neighborhood industry besides pork-processing giant Squire’s to provide housing for its workforce.

Lockhart bought a new manufacturing facility between First Street and Lechmere Canal in 1902. Four years later the company was acquired by the National Casket Co., which operated in East Cambridge until the mid-1970s. The Bridge Street factory was sold to the Boston and Lowell Railroad in 1907, but the original buildings remain, making them the oldest surviving industrial buildings in that part of East Cambridge.

This article originally appeared in Cambridge Day.