Nothing predisposed the region to become a manufacturing centre. Communication between the Roanne region, hemmed in by a semi-circle of mountains, and its neighbours was difficult. Light, wet soils make poor roads. The inhabitants were peasants, cultivating mediocre land. Roanne was then only a village and it was only at the end of the 15th century that it was to experience great changes...

The opening up to traffic and the proximity of Lyon

Roanne opened up to the outside world when it saw the route du Bourbonnais, one of the Kingdom's major routes, connecting Paris to Lyon, arrive. The newly wealthy Lyon merchants were to try to produce on the spot what they were importing from Italy. They were looking for cheap labour not very far away. They found in the Beaujolais mountain peasants looking for additional income and ready to work at home. Furthermore, the purity of the waters and their almost nil lime content made the region the ideal location for the bleaching, dyeing and dressing of fabrics.

Roanne, from village to town: emancipation

Lyon's tutelage weakened and disappeared totally at the beginning of the 19th century. Roanne's agents got rich and also became manufacturers. A local middle class appeared and grew in Roanne. The cotton fabric manufacturers founded in Roanne large workshops for preparation, making and finishing.

Roanne established itself as a town. The communication routes developed. Its port saw the embarkation of goods from the south (wines, oils, spices), silks and taffetas from Lyon and farm produce from the region.

Withstanding competition

Big industry appeared. The Roanne fabrics withstood, however, competition from mechanical production, unlike the Breton manufactured articles. It should be noted that the commercial spirit penetrated the peasant and the middle class. Cotton fabric continued to develop around Roanne and Thizy.

Expansion was, however, greatly disrupted by the consequences of the American Civil War (1860-1865) which hindered cotton procurement. The mills which did not modernise did not survive the crisis and in Roanne one out of two mills stopped working. This crisis benefitted Lyon, again looking for labour for silk weaving.

In just a few years, the cotton-manufacturing region of Roanne and Thizy became the 3rd largest in France. Roanne had 10,000 workers in its mills. 3,000 families arrived from the country between 1872 and 1886. Production remained not very diversified, dominated by the popular checked gingham.

Adapting to new difficulties

The 1880s marked the end of the easy years and of rocketing growth. Roanne was the only textile region not to have any spinning mills, and the price of labour was high. Roanne's industrialists had to face difficulties selling. They were to abandon common gingham and to start producing fancy fabrics, aimed at town people, from 1881. To do that, they kept up with fashion and went to horse racing meetings, receptions and major premières in Paris.

Roanne's population doubled between 1866 and 1911, following the influx of workers and the rural exodus. Cotton fabric accounted for one third of the town's turnover and the other industries accounted for a not inconsiderable proportion.