Pendleton Woolen Mills is an American textile and clothing company with roots stretching to 1863, when English weaver Thomas Kay arrived in Oregon from West Yorkshire and helped establish the second woollen mill in the state. Over six generations of the same family — from Kay through his daughter Fannie Kay Bishop to her three grandsons, the Bishop brothers — Pendleton has grown into one of the most iconic American brands: the company that introduced the Native American trade blanket to mass production, outfitted the Beach Boys (then called the Pendletones), dressed the American military across two world wars, and designed the wool plaid shirt that became a symbol of American outdoor and countercultural life throughout the 20th century. The company is still family-owned, still operates its original mills in Oregon and Washington, and still produces wool fabric on its own looms.
Key Facts
- Founded: 1863 (Thomas Kay arrives in Oregon); Pendleton Woolen Mills formally incorporated 1909 by the Bishop family (Thomas Kay’s grandsons)
- Founder: Thomas Kay (English weaver, born West Yorkshire; working in mills from age 9)
- Headquarters: Portland, Oregon, USA
- Mills: Pendleton, Oregon and Washougal, Washington (two of the very few woollen mills remaining in the USA)
- Ownership: Family-owned; sixth generation of Thomas Kay’s descendants
- Industry: American Heritage Wool Apparel, Blankets, Textiles
History
Thomas Kay arrived in Oregon in 1863, having crossed the continent via the Isthmus of Panama on a mule and sailed up the Pacific coast. He helped organise Oregon’s second woollen mill in Brownsville, then opened his own — the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill in Salem, Oregon — in 1889, turning out the first bolt of worsted wool west of the Mississippi. He died in 1900. His daughter Fannie Kay married retail merchant Charles P. Bishop, and the family tradition passed to their three sons: Clarence, Roy, and Chauncey. In 1909, the Bishop brothers purchased and revived the idle Pendleton Woolen Mills in Pendleton, northeastern Oregon — a town on land that had been part of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — and began manufacturing Native American trade blankets in vivid jacquard-loom designs. The combination of weaving skill (from Thomas Kay) and retail knowledge (from the Bishops) proved powerful.
Clarence Bishop introduced men’s wool sport shirts in 1924 — before which woollen shirts had been considered dull work garments — launching one of the brand’s most enduring product lines. The Beach Boys, then called the Pendletones, took their group name from the Pendleton wool plaid shirt when they formed in 1961 (they later changed it to The Beach Boys). The brand outfitted the US military in both World Wars. The company moved its headquarters to Portland, Oregon in 1919 and expanded into Washougal, Washington in 1912. The company today operates seven facilities and 41 retail stores. The two original mills in Pendleton, Oregon and Washougal, Washington are among the only surviving woollen mills in the United States.
Products and Aesthetic
Pendleton’s signature products are its wool plaid shirts (the Board Shirt, the classic Wool Shirt), Native American trade blankets (produced since 1909 for the Umatilla, Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Walla Walla tribes and now collected globally), and the ’49er jacket introduced for women in the late 1940s. The brand also produces Mackinaw coats, sweaters, trousers, and home textiles. Collaborations have included Opening Ceremony, Levi’s, Pendleton x Danner, and Supreme. The brand’s wool fabric remains produced in its own Oregon and Washington mills.
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