The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Huddersfield

HUDDERSFIELD, England, municipal, county and parliamentary borough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the Colne, 16 miles southwest of Leeds. It is the chief seat of the English cloth and woolen manufacture and also manufactures silk, iron and machinery. Coal-mining and stone-quarrying are also carried on extensively. The borough has good water power and many of the industries are run by it. The town is thoroughly modern, is well built and has spacious streets. It has also fine churches and public buildings. There are here a proprietary college affiliated with the University of London, a technical school and several grammar schools. The municipal government is of a high order and has been a pioneer in several important particulars. The town was the first to own and operate its street railways; it owns its gas, electric and water plants, maintains free public libraries, a slaughter-house, public markets, a hospital, cemeteries and a modern sewage disposal plant. It was the first town to adopt an eight-hour labor day. As far back as 1853 artisan's dwellings were established for married couples and for single women as well as for bachelors. In ancient times known as Odersfelt, Huddersfield has been of importance only from the establishment of the woolen industry in the 18th century. A consulate of the United States is located here. Pop. 107,821.