Located on the Neponset River, the company dated back to the 1780s when James Baker began working with local businessman John Hannon to import cocoa beans. After Hannon’s death, his widow sold their share of the company to Baker. Thereafter it was passed on through members of the family, including Walter, who assumed leadership in 1823. The enterprise was particularly successful after 1869 when one of the descendants built a mill with underground cooling rooms that allowed the production of chocolate products year-round. Following Walter’s death, other family members operated the company, which was purchased by the Forbes Syndicate in1896. The business employed many women in the packing and distribution departments. Baker’s production facilities moved from Dorchester to Dover, Delaware, in 1966. Today the brand is owned by the Kraft Heinz Corporation. The buildings in Dorchester remained idle for several years until they were converted into luxury apartments in the 1980s. The complex is now listed on the National Register of Historic places.
Associated with the Baker Chocolate Company was Ellen Swallow Richards, who was the first woman to graduate from MIT. She was an environmental chemist credited with helping to establish the field of home economics. Richards wrote pieces for the company focusing on health, including The Chocolate Plant, Theobroma Cacao (1890).
Eleanor Jameson Williams Baker was married to Walter when he headed the company. She had a difficult life, having lost her four children when she was still a young woman. These losses may have accounted for her legendary hospitality and explained her need to surround herself with many friends. Eleanor inherited the company after the death of her husband in 1852 which allowed her to continue with her philanthropic work. When the Civil War broke out, Eleanor held lint-picking classes for making gauze bandages to support the Union war effort. She provided comfort to the wounded in person by visiting army hospitals and collecting books for the Solders’ Free Library in Washington D.C. Eleanor was a major donor and helped to organize the project. She provided scholarships for black students to attend the Hampton Institute, and she supported a home for elderly African American women in Lynchburg, Virginia.
