Grit

STILL CUTTING THE MUSTARD

The year was 1903, and 23-year-old J. Wesley Raye, or J.W. Raye for short, had recently returned from the Spanish-American War to the small town of Eastport, Maine. The thriving town of 5,000 people was bustling, with 27 working sardine factories and one mustard mill. Convenient and portable, canned sardines made a popular lunchbox treat, especially when packed in piquant mustard sauce.

Seeing a business opportunity, Raye imported two massive 2,000- to 3,000-pound quartz grindstones from France, built a small mill near Eastport’s railroad line, and started supplying mustard to the sardine factories dotting the coast of Maine.

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