Seth Thomas Clock Company
A carpenter who learned clockmaking on Eli Terry's famous contract went on to found a company so central to its village that the place was later renamed for him.
From carpenter to clockmaker
Seth Thomas was born on August 19, 1785, in Wolcott, Connecticut. Britannica says he was apprenticed in the woodworking trades and built houses and barns until 1807, when the clockmaker Eli Terry hired him and Silas Hoadley for a large wholesale venture.
That venture was Terry's contract with Edward and Levi G. Porter for wooden clock movements, which the Porters sold as tall clocks. After about a year spent setting up machinery, the three men turned out roughly 4,000 clocks over the next two years. In 1809 Thomas and Hoadley bought out Terry's interest.
Building the Seth Thomas company
In 1813 Thomas sold his share to Hoadley and set up on his own in Plymouth Hollow, a section of the town of Plymouth. Historic Buildings of Connecticut notes that he did so by buying out the clockmaking business of Heman Clark there. Thomas later bought the rights to Terry's shelf clock design, made about 5,000 shelf clocks under that agreement, and built his own mill for rolling brass and drawing wire.
He organized the Seth Thomas Clock Company in 1853 and died in Plymouth Hollow on January 29, 1859. His son Seth Thomas Jr. (1816-1888) continued and enlarged the business, according to Britannica. In 1875 Plymouth Hollow was incorporated as a separate town and named Thomaston in the founder's honor, ConnecticutHistory.org records.
The company kept growing on several sites in Thomaston. A large main factory went up on South Main Street in 1915, a date the Historic Buildings of Connecticut writer worked out from an insurance map, and it was added to over the years.
See also: a wider guide to clock brands and makers on OnlineClock.app.
Identifying and dating a Seth Thomas clock
Most Seth Thomas clocks name the maker clearly. A shelf clock from about 1880 at The Henry Ford has SETH THOMAS on the dial and a paper label inside reading Spring Clocks, made and sold by Seth Thomas, Thomaston, Conn.
The town name is a useful clue. Thomas worked in Plymouth Hollow, part of Plymouth, and Thomaston did not become a separate town until 1875. A label that gives Plymouth rather than Thomaston therefore suggests an earlier clock, while Thomaston marks generally belong to the later decades.
Thomas began with weight-driven wooden movements made on Terry's pattern, so a wooden movement with his name belongs to the early years. The Henry Ford's later clock, by contrast, is sold on its label as a spring clock, and the museum lists brass among its materials. If the label is missing, reprinted catalogs and a specialist repairer can help narrow the date.
See also: the tunes striking and chiming clocks play on OnlineClock.app.
What became of Seth Thomas
In 1931 the company became a division of General Time Instruments Corporation, later General Time Corporation. From World War II until 1967 the Thomaston factory also worked as a defense plant, making marine timing and navigation devices for the military. It was badly damaged in the Flood of 1955 and reopened the following year.
Talley Industries of Seattle took over in 1970. The Thomaston plant closed between 1979 and 1982 and operations moved to Norcross, Georgia. The old factory later reopened as an industrial park for small manufacturers.
The name lived on as a brand. By the 2000s Seth Thomas was a subsidiary of the Colibri Group of Rhode Island, which shut down in January 2009. Providence Business News reported that June that Alliance Time, a New York distributor, had bought the Seth Thomas trademarks and was putting the clocks back in stores. We could not confirm who owns or sells the brand as of 2026.
Questions people ask
How do I tell how old my Seth Thomas clock is?
Check the label and movement. Plymouth addresses and wooden movements belong to the early years, and Thomaston addresses generally to the decades after the town took that name. Matching the case style against reprinted Seth Thomas catalogs can narrow it further.
Is Seth Thomas still in business?
Not as the original company. The Thomaston factory closed between 1979 and 1982 after the business passed to General Time and then Talley Industries. The name continued as a brand, part of the Colibri Group until 2009 and then bought by Alliance Time; its current owner could not be confirmed.
Why is Thomaston, Connecticut named after Seth Thomas?
Plymouth Hollow, the village where his clock factory stood, was incorporated as a separate town in 1875 and named Thomaston in his honor, about 16 years after his death.