Ashaway: The String That Strung a Sport

Ashaway is a village in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, small enough that most maps skip it. But it gave the world something lasting. In eighteen twenty-four, according to the company, Lester Crandall founded Ashaway Line and Twine along the Pawcatuck River, braiding cotton and later synthetic fibers into fishing line.

The company later moved into racquet strings. The company also supplied squash and badminton strings globally. The company says it remains family-owned and still operates, producing strings in the same village where Crandall set up his first braiding machines beside the river.