Made in the USA: One Awesome Thing Built in Each State

Editors note: This is a great list of at least one item that is made in America in every one of the 50 states.

And Washington D.C., too!

[John Del Rosario | June 29, 2017 | Popular Mechanics]

Moving manufacturing overseas may be easier. It may be cheaper. But that doesn’t mean everyone is doing it. These American companies work hard to keep their products made right here—and to prove that American manufacturing isn’t going extinct. It’s thriving.

Alabama

Honda Odyssey: Lincoln, AL

A Japanese company making the most popular minivans in America, in America, since 2001.

Alaska

Nomar Driving Mittens: Homer, AK

Nomar started out in an old school bus as a maker of brailer bags—huge sacks that pull salmon out of the water without the damage of traditional netting. The company has since moved out of the bus and expanded to make high-performance technical clothing, including driving mittens that’ll keep you warm whether you’re in a Buick or on a snow machine.

Arizona

Phoenix Manufacturing AerOcool Pro Air Cooler: Phoenix, AZ

One hundred twenty employees make as many as 100,000 evaporative cooling systems each year.

Arkansas

American Native Goods Duck Canvas and Leather Apron : Fayetteivlle, AR

Brothers Bobby and Clayton Chamberlain trained as graphic designers before deciding they wanted to produce something more tangible. They landed on aprons.

California

Capital Cooking Culinarian 36-inch gas range: Sante Fe Springs, CA

Over 25,000 Btus, a watched pot actually does boil. And quickly.

Colorado

Never Summer Ripsaw Snowboard: Denver, CO

The Canaday brothers revolutionized snowboarding by combining the two traditional board shapes—convex (better for hard, fast turns) and concave (better on powder)—into one that’s good at everything.

Connecticut

Luke’s Toy Factory Dump Truck: Danbury, CT

Jim Barber, who’s somewhere in his 60s, and his son Luke make toys. They make toys because Jim noticed when Luke was little that most of his toys were made overseas, and then he heard about some mess a few years ago involving toxic paint on kids’ toys, so he rented space in a forgotten warehouse in an industrial corner of a forgotten city. Luke started designing and 3D-printing prototypes of trucks made of parts that fit together—loosely, so little kids can put them together easily. Jim took care of sourcing the safe, eco-friendly raw material (30 percent sawdust from furniture factories) and put up some of his retirement savings for equipment—the 3D printer, a drill press to make holes for the trucks’ axles, boxes for packaging. They’re now in more than 200 stores from Connecticut to Wasilla, Alaska. “The cost of making things overseas is actually going up,” Jim says. “So we’re looking not at where things are now, but where are things going? We just want people to know: Yeah, you can make things here.”

Delaware

ILC Dover space suit: Frederica, DE

Worn by every American to float, walk, or otherwise hover above Earth since the Apollo program.

Florida

Tibor Reel Signature 11-12S fly reel: Delray Beach, FL

A Hungarian immigrant, Tibor Juracsik, started Tibor Reel in response to a fishing buddy’s complaint about the durability of saltwater fly reels. That’s no longer a problem.

Georgia

1888 Mills Made Here Organic Cotton Bath Towel: Griffin, GA

The company name says nearly everything: Made Here (in Georgia) in a mill that’s been around since 1888.

Hawaii

Pyzel Rip Off surfboard: Waialua, HI

Pyzel started around the time John Florence did. Florence got his first board at age five, when his mom commissioned it from novice shaper Jon Pyzel. Florence is now the World Surf League Men’s Champion. He still rides a Pyzel.

Idaho

Buck Knives 110: Post Falls, ID

Ever since the 110 was introduced in 1963, it’s been made in the same factory, and by the same family, now on its fourth generation.

Illinois

SK Hand Tools ¼-inch drive 6 ½-inch professional reversible ratchet: Sycamore, IL

Going bankrupt in 2010 made SK Tools even better. Of the five bidders for SK’s assets, only one was American. Ideal Industries shifted SK production to a brand-new facility and replaced the few Asian-origin products sold by SK with better-performing American versions.

Indiana

Broomcorn Johnny’s Cabin Broom: Elizabeth, IN

You’ll never know who put together your vacuum cleaner, but your broom can be made by a former fighter-jet mechanic named Brian Newton who grows his own sorghum (the bristles) and uses equipment from the late 1800s.

Iowa

Amana Shops Prairie Wall Clock: Amana, IA

This collective of craftsmen has been making furniture, textiles, and clocks since 1855.

Kansas

Tallgrass Brewing Company Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout: Manhattan, KS

Buffalo Sweat bends the bounds of what a stout can do, with wheat, oats, and lactose added to the usual barley for a rich, but not heavy, treat.

Kentucky

Briggs & Stratton E-Series Engine: Murray, KY

The company has been refining its small-engine expertise since 1908.

Louisiana

Tchoup Industries flap messenger bag: New Orleans, LA

All materials are repurposed or sourced from around the U.S.—often of things other brands may not consider, such as alligator leather and nutria fur.

Maine

Rogue Industries front-pocket wallet: Portland, ME

A wallet cut to fit perfectly in your front pocket is innovative, surprising, and a little weird. So: American. And it comes in moose.

Maryland

Charm City Meadworks Original Dry Mead: Baltimore, MD

Re-creating medieval-era fermented honey wine as a modern drink that isn’t limited to Renaissance fairs takes more than clever marketing.

The former beekeepers of Charm City Meadworks engineered a new identity for the spirit by fermenting less honey for a longer period to create lighter, drier versions. Wine lovers will gravitate to the bottled still meads, which are 12 percent alcohol and infused with seasonal flavors like summer’s strawberry ginger, while beer drinkers should go for the carbonated canned mead, at 6.9 percent alcohol and in more adventurous combinations—even fermented with Citra and Centennial hops for a bright citrus finish.

Massachusetts

New Balance 990v4 sneakers: Boston, MA

Yes, the majority of this Boston-based company’s shoes float in from across the Pacific, but New Balance still manufactures more than four million pairs across its five New England plants every year.

Michigan

Wolverine 1000 Mile Boot: Rockford, MI

For more than 130 years, Wolverine has made work boots that fit and feel like sneakers. They don’t look so terrible with a suit, either.

Minnesota

Wenonah Canoe Minnesota II: Winona, MN

When Mike Cichanowski started his canoe company in 1967, shareholder meetings were held at his kitchen table. That’s where they’re still held today. Each canoe is handcrafted: Resin layers are brushed on, rivets are attached individually around the gunwales. The workers care about your boat almost as much as you will.

Mississippi

McCarty Pottery: Merigold, MS

Lee and Pup McCarty dug up the clay for their first pottery in William Faulkner’s backyard. They set up shop in an aunt’s old mule barn in 1954, and within a decade they’d created some of the most recognizable and beautiful pottery in the world. You might even occasionally convince yourself it’s okay to eat off of.

Missouri

Swisher Ride King 32-inch mower: Warrensburg, MO

Max Swisher invented the first zero-turn mower. He also did ingenious things like this: Before starting the company in 1945, Swisher rigged up his mower to be self-propelled, then tethered it with a rope to a tree in the middle of his yard. As the mower circled the tree, the rope tightened, and the yard mowed itself.

Montana

Duckworth Vapor Hoody: Bozeman, MT

At 9,500 feet above sea level, deep in the Montana Rockies, Duckworth’s Helle Ranch raises sheep that produce a soft and durable wool that rivals the best Merino. The 12,500-sheep flock offers a unique quirk: a crimped fiber that creates stretchable fabrics that don’t need the addition of Lycra. Which is good, because Lycra can start to stink.

Nebraska

Accu-Strike Welding Helmet: Ord, NE

Instead of raising or lowering your helmet by hand, you can control a visor by raising or lowering your jaw by ¼ inch.

Nevada

Caravan Camper TOPS: Reno, NV

For 50 years, each truck top has been welded by hand by a blacksmith.

New Hampshire

Tappan Chairs five-slat tappan rocker: Sandwich, NH

Don’t call it a Shaker chair. The Tappan family started making ladder-backed chairs in Sandwich in 1819. Except for the ’60s and ’70s, the chairs have been made by hand there ever since.

New Jersey

Princeton Tec Helix Bluetooth Lantern: Trenton, NJ

When RCA tried to move engineer and diver Bill Stephens’s job to Indianapolis in 1975, he couldn’t stand the idea of being so far from the ocean. He turned the dive shop he started with his wife into a new career. For him and—42 years later—150 other employees.

New Mexico

Solaro Energy Off-Grid Solar System: Socorro, NM

For more than 25 years, Solaro has been manufacturing America’s first value: independence. In this case, from your utility company.

New York

Liberty Tabletop Flatware: Sherrill, NY

Liberty Tabletop, the only flatware made in the U.S.A., was originally founded as Oneida Community Plate in the late 19th century by a Perfectionist Christian society. The “free love” Utopian commune

1990s, sales were flattening. People bought flatware made overseas, made of cheaper materials requiring less skilled fabrication. Additionally, after the September 11 attacks, airlines stopped buying metal flatware for in-flight use—a $25 million loss for Oneida.

In 2005, two former Oneida executives bought the struggling company and renamed it Sherrill Manufacturing. In 2010, they filed for bankruptcy. Although it required ceasing production short-term, the partners established a growth plan by reorganizing property and equipment assets to focus on the niche market of “Made in the U.S.A.” A smaller production goal meant a smaller workforce, but ultimately the factory was reopened under a new company name and many former employees were hired back.

North Carolina

Raleigh Denim Workshop Jones selvage jeans: Raleigh, NC

The fabric comes from a 110-year-old mill in nearby Greensboro. The sewing machines are all secondhand. And the jeans are patterned by hand by 83-year-old tailor Christel Ellsberg.

North Dakota

Dakota Outerwear Multi-Cam Poncho: Minot, ND

A veteran-owned clothing and apparel company that supplies the U.S. military, police, and, fortunately, you.

Ohio

KitchenAid stand mixer: Greenville, OH

Produced in the same factory since 1919, the KitchenAid stand mixer is a relentless kneader of dough, beater of batter, and whisker of eggs. It simply will not die. That’s why all utility attachments, no matter how current, are compatible with the front power hub of every mixer manufactured since 1937, the year industrial designer Egmont Arens created the streamlined Model K.

Oklahoma

Cookshack Smokette: Ponca City, OK

Founded by a husband and wife team with a serious appetite for smoked meat in 1962, Cookshack builds competition smokers for the country’s brightest barbecue stars, as well as residential units for the rest of us.

Oregon

Chris King R45 hub: Portland, OR

When a bike with a Chris King hub coasts by, two things happen. First, you check the sky for a cloud of angry bees—the hubs are famous for their buzzing sound. Then you see the jewel spinning at the center of the wheels. Chris King hubs have been ridden to Tour de France victories, thanks to King’s unyielding standards, including surgical-grade-steel internals and a twice-hand-polished finish that takes 45 minutes for each hub.

Pennsylvania

Zippo Lighters 1935 replica original: Bradford, PA

Designed by George G. Blaisdell in 1932 as a small rectangular stainless-steel case with windproof internal chimney, Zippo production remains rooted in its hometown, where the family-run company lives up to its founder’s promise: “It works or we fix it free.”

Rhode Island

Moody Tools super screwdriver and wrench set: Cranston, RI

The smallest state makes some of the smallest precision tools for jewelers and dentists, just as it has for the last six decades.

South Carolina

J Wingfield classic chambray button-down: Central, SC

Since 1954, J Wingfield’s fabrics have been woven from American cotton in South Carolina, sewn in Texas, and worn, well, wherever you want to wear them.

South Dakota

K Bar J leather working shotgun chaps: Newell, SD

Jack Gully sold his first chaps to cowboys behind the chutes at rodeos. More than three decades later, every pair are still cut and fringed by hand.

Tennessee

Orion 35 cooler: Sparta, TN

There are a lot of coolers built for adventure, but the founders of Orion didn’t like any of them. In 2014, they launched their own line with recessed corners that don’t snag, moto-inspired grips, and a bottle opener on every side.

Texas

Crick Tool 3-piece level: Ben Wheeler, TX

Makers of the most accurate and beautiful levels since 1980.

Utah

Lifetime Products Metal Swing Set: Clearfield, UT

Barry Mower started Lifetime in 1986, after he wanted to make a better basketball hoop than what he could find at the store. The company has since grown to more than 1,500 employees and still makes many of its products in Utah.

Vermont

Johnson Woolen Mills button-down shirt: Johnson, VT

For almost two centuries Johnson Woolen Mills has been trying to put itself out of business by making shirts that last. They’re as much heirlooms as they are clothing.

Virginia

Capps Welt chukka dress boot: Gretna, VA

Built for abuse, Capps shoes are designed for members of the military, and police and fire departments.

Washington

Filson weatherproof leather duffel: Seattle, WA

The first time I saw this bag, in the Filson store, the salesman insisted I spill a little of my beer on it. It sheeted off the side. Leather has always intimidated me, because that beauty comes at the cost of care I don’t want to think about when I’m jamming in clothes for a weekend away. But no longer. I salute Filson for making a leather bag I cannot ruin. Also, for occasionally serving beer in their stores.

Washington, D.C.

Yinibini Baby cotton bib: Washington, D.C.

Yes, kids outgrow handmade clothing as quickly as something mass-produced. But it’s never too early to appreciate quality and comfort.

West Virginia

Homer Laughlin China Company’s Fiestaware plates: Newell, WV

When the Homer Laughlin company introduced Fiesta dinnerware at the Pittsburgh China & Glass Show in January 1936, it helped launch a new American style. As the first tableware sold individually (rather than in formal sets), the streamlined Deco design and bold, bright colors represented a break with tradition to a country coming out of the Depression. By the second year of production, Fiesta sold more than one million pieces, and today it is the most collectible tableware in the country. With one piece produced every four seconds, Fiestaware is up to a lifetime total of more than half a billion. All made in the U.S.A.

Wisconsin

John Deere Gator Utility Vehicle RSX: Horicon, WI

John Deere may not have imagined an ATV that could haul nearly anything and go nearly anywhere when he opened his blacksmith shop in 1837, but he probably would have appreciated it anyway. He certainly would have had fun on one.

Wyoming

Aviat Aircraft Husky A-1C propeller plane: Afton, WY

Every part is made at Aviat’s

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Why My gloves are not made in the U.S.A.

In 2014, after I finished designing the Del Rosario Resistor glove—abrasion-resistant motorcycle gloves with knuckle hinges for articulation—I tried to find qualified technicians to make it here in the United States. I needed people who went to school to learn to stitch, who worked on machines that could get into the little crevices on the knuckles. So I asked around. One company wanted to charge me $2,000 each for the ten prototypes, which I couldn’t afford. A major motorcycle-gear company in Massachusetts seemed promising, until they saw the renderings and said, “This is too complicated for us.” I called a glove company in upstate New York. Their main offices are here, they said, but the manufacturing is in China. Another one in California was the same: offices here, manufacturing in Honduras. I asked a sourcing company to help me hire people I could train myself. They said, “You’re going to pay us to come up empty.”

I was disappointed in myself, but I had exhausted all my options. That’s how I ended up in Pakistan’s factory region a week after a bombing. In Pakistan, there’s an ecosystem for production. The tooling company that makes the molds for the machines knows the manufacturing company. The Kevlar’s there, the leather’s there, everything you need to produce something is there. I was worried about the conditions for employees, but there’s air conditioning and the workers get breaks, transportation, and the opportunity to go to school. I didn’t like giving up control, having everything happen so far away. But that’s how I was finally able to make these gloves.