As the cool temperatures start settling in, we will all be reaching for cozy sweaters to fight the chill. Once upon a time, odds were very high that any given sweater in an American’s closet was made with 100% US-produced wool. Those days are long gone and it’s nearly taken the US wool and sheep industries with it. This holiday season, I encourage everyone to purchase at least one new item made from American wool!
The story of the U.S. wool industry begins long before the modern textile mills of New England or the sprawling sheep ranches of the West. It reaches back to the early colonial period, when settlers brought sheep from Europe. Sheep were a practical choice, providing both food and fiber.
Wool was one of the few available fibers for clothing and blankets in the colonies. Shorn wool was scoured (cleaned), combed or carded by hand, spun into yarn, and woven into fabric in colonial households. Much of the work was done by women and children. This homespun fabric was considered lesser grade and colonists still relied on imported, higher grade cloth from England.
By the mid-1600s, larger towns began to establish small spinning and weaving operations. However, the British Crown tightly controlled wool production in the colonies through acts that restricted trade and export. The Wool Act of 1699 forbade the export of woolen goods from one colony to another and made finished textiles subject to heavy regulation. This kind of economic control became one of many grievances that fed colonial resentment toward Britain.
After the Revolutionary War, the growth of the U.S. wool industry became both a patriotic goal and an economic opportunity. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson themselves raised sheep, viewing domestic textile production as a symbol of self-sufficiency. Yet, through much of the early 19th century, American wool remained a regional business.
It wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that wool textiles took off commercially. The arrival of new spinning machinery and water-powered looms transformed raw wool into a lucrative commodity. New England emerged as the epicenter of this industrial shift. Towns such as Lowell, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, became textile hubs, their brick mills humming with mechanized efficiency.
As the industry expanded, so did the demand for wool-producing sheep. This push opened vast new frontiers in the Midwest and later the West. The introduction of Merino sheep, prized for their fine fleece, revolutionized American wool production during the early 1800s. Entrepreneurs imported Merino stock from Spain and worked to improve domestic breeds, leading to a wave of “Merino mania.” Prices soared; farmers built their fortunes on wool flocks; and Congress introduced protective tariffs intended to shelter the textile trade from foreign competition.
The Civil War era marked a significant turning point. The Union’s demand for uniforms fueled massive government purchases of wool fabric, giving the industry a sustained wartime boost. Once peace returned, large-scale sheep ranching migrated to the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain states. Western rangelands offered ample grazing territory, and the wool clip from states like Wyoming, Montana, and Texas became essential to the national market.
For much of the late 19th century, U.S. wool production rose alongside westward expansion, integrating agricultural and industrial economies in an early example of value chain coordination. By the early 20th century, however, the industry faced growing headwinds.
A wave of new synthetic fibers began to compete with wool’s natural appeal. At the same time, labor costs in textile mills climbed, and global competition from nations with cheaper production made domestic wool less competitive. After World War II, the popularity of synthetic fabrics accelerated the industry’s decline.
In response, the number of sheep being raised in the US began to drop precipitously (sheep populations in the 1990′s were about 10% of 1940′s numbers). In 1966 alone the US saw a 40% drop in the price for wool. Critical infrastructure began to fail as well (such as wool pooling centers and wool washing and processing facilities). Most farmers that continued raising sheep started choosing flocks for lanolin or meat production, while wool became a profitless side product.
The US currently contributes less than 1% of the world’s wool clip whereas China, New Zealand, and Australia together account for more than 50%. There are current efforts to revive the US wool industry but rebuilding the necessary infrastructure, not to mention the required human skills, is not going to happen overnight.
The American Wool Council, which is a division of the American Sheep Industry Association (ASI), recently launched a “Reimagine Wool” Digital Poster Contest, which calls on creative thinkers, designers, students, and industry professionals to help unlock the untapped potential of American wool.
The AWC says each year, millions of pounds of U.S. wool–especially wool greater than 25 microns–is undervalued or goes unused. The contest invites participants to submit a digital poster that showcases an innovative use, a fresh twist on an existing product, or a new method of processing coarse wool. The goal: spark practical solutions and elevate the value of this miracle fiber. Learn more about the contest HERE.
And when you’re shopping for gifts this holiday season, consider seeking out products made with US wool! There are actually several companies that specialize in US wool products that are easily found with a Google search. A few standouts include Pendleton, Duckworth Co., and Frankenmuth. (Sources: AWC, USDA, Fibershed, NPR)
