text: During the turn of the 19th century, Worcester's economy moved into manufacturing. Factories producing textiles, shoes and clothing opened along the nearby Blackstone River.
  However, the manufacturing industry in Worcester would not begin to thrive until the opening of the Blackstone Canal in 1828 and the opening of the Worcester and Boston Railroad in 1835. The city transformed into a transportation hub and the manufacturing industry flourished.
  Worcester was officially chartered as a city on February 29, 1848. The city's industries soon attracted immigrants of primarily Irish, Scottish, French, German, and Swedish descent in the mid-19th century and later many immigrants of Lithuanian, Polish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Syrian, and Lebanese descent.  Immigrants moved into new three-decker houses (which originated in Worcester)  lining hundreds of Worcester's expanding streets and neighborhoods.
  In 1831, Ichabod Washburn opened the Washburn & Moen Company. The company would become the largest wire manufacturing in the country and Washburn became one of the leading industrial and philanthropic figures in the city.
  Worcester would become a center of machinery, wire products and power looms and boasted large manufacturers, including Washburn & Moen, Wyman-Gordon Company, American Steel & Wire, Morgan Construction and the Norton Company. In 1908, the Royal Worcester Corset Company was the largest employer of women in the United States.