;;Henry Harrington, a New England craftsman and inventor, established the first cutlery company in the United States on June 18, 1818 in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Harrington manufactured surgical equipment and shoe knives, as well as well crafted firearms. As his cutlery line expanded, he gradually discontinued his firearm business. In 1884, Harrington introduced the Dexter trade name. The Dexter line of fine kitchen and table cutlery soon gained a reputation for quality in America's homes and restaurants.
;;Today, the same tradition of quality and variety iscarried on in Southbridge, Massachusetts, where Dexter-Russell produces the broadest line of professional cutlery made by any single manufacturer in the world.
