James Baker brings his son Edmund in as a business partner.

Baker’s first chocolate shipment outside of New England delivers $1,250 worth of chocolate to merchants Wales & Clapper in Baltimore, Maryland.

James Baker retires, leaving business to Edmund.

Edmund Baker builds first Baker family mill for chocolate, grist, and cloth. This mill contains first tub wheels used in the area.

Edmund Baker dismantles his 1806 mill and replaces it with a three-story, forty-foot square, granite building for making chocolate, woolens, and satinets.

Edmund Baker makes his son Walter a business partner.

Baker's introduces low-priced Lapham chocolate, named after long-time employee Elisha Lapham.

Baker's employes its first women workers including sisters Christine and Mary Shields, Mary Ann Barker, Abigale Delano, and Betsey Sanborn.

Baker’s is producing over 750 pounds of chocolate per day. Local competitor Preston Mill is making nearly the same quantity.

Spiced Cocoa Sticks are introduced.

Walter Baker hires his brother-in-law Sidney Williams as his clerk.

Baker’s has eleven people—two men, two apprentices, six women, and a forelady—consistently employed.

The 1813 mill built by Edmund Baker is severely damaged by fire. Walter Baker rebuilds, and erects a sign on the mill that reads “W. Baker & Co., Established 1780.”

Walter Baker hires his half nephew Henry Pierce. Pierce works as a clerk for both Baker and Sidney Williams for $3 per week.

Henry Pierce quits, citing political differences with Walter Baker. Pierce is a liberal Democrat while Baker is a conservative Webster Whig.

Henry Pierce returns at the request of Sidney Williams.

German’s Sweet Chocolate is developed by Baker’s employee Samuel German.

Walter Baker dies. In accordance with Baker’s will, the trustees of the estate appoint Sidney B. Williams to continue running the business under the name Walter Baker & Company.

Sidney Williams dies while on business in Montreal, Canada. The trustees appoint Henry Pierce to run the company, with a ten-year contract that includes an initial two-year trial period.

Henry Pierce renews lease with the Baker estate trustees for the remaining eight years of his ten-year agreement.

Henry Pierce buys out the Preston chocolate mill.

Walter Baker estate trustees renew lease of the business to Henry Pierce for a second ten-year term.

Baker’s Chocolate and Cocoa wins a silver medal at the Paris Exposition.

48 employees are on the payroll, 23 of whom are women. Men are paid up to $48 for 24 days of work, while women receive $20 for the same 24 days.

Henry Pierce installs the company’s first steam engine to power the mills.

The Pierce Mill is built.

Baker’s Chocolate and Cocoa wins highest prizes at the Vienna Exposition.

Walter Baker estate trustees renew lease of the business to Henry Pierce for a third ten-year term.

95 employees are on the payroll, 42 of whom are women. In a 24-day period. men are paid up to $72, while women receive $24.

Baker’s Chocolate and Cocoa wins highest prizes at the Philadelphia Centennial.

Baker's begins distributing lithographed chocolate advertisements at grocery stores.

The image of La Belle Chocolatière is used for the first time on packaging and advertisements.

Henry Pierce buys the Webb chocolate mill. The company hires H. Clifford Gallagher, who later becomes president of the company.

The new Webb Mill is built.

La Belle becomes Baker’s official company trademark.

Henry Pierce obtains full ownership of Walter Baker & Company from Baker estate trustees.

Construction begins on the Adams Street Mill and is finished one year later.

Baker’s begins advertising on the back covers of novels.

The new Baker Mill is built on the site of the 1848 mill.

Baker’s begins selling its chocolates in some of the country's first coin-operated vending machines.

Henry Pierce incorporates the company officially as Walter Baker & Company, Ltd.

J. Frank Howland is elected first president of the company.

Henry Pierce dies, leaving between $20,000 and $100,000 to the fifteen associates most influential in building the company, and $100 to everyone employed at the mills at the time of his death.

Baker’s business and property is bought by the “Forbes Syndicate” for $4.75 million.

Baker’s has over 400 employees.

Century Sweet Chocolate is introduced.

The Ware Mill burns down.

The new Ware Mill is built.

The Preston Mill is built.

Each employee working for Baker’s at least one year is offered one week’s salary as an annual bonus.

The first air conditioning system is installed at the mills by the Sturtevant Company.

The work week is reduced from 58 hours to 56 hours, two months before Massachusetts required it by law.

Baker’s purchases its first electric truck.

The Forbes Mill is built.

Steel rollers are first used instead of granite, to grind sweet chocolate to a finer consistency.

Baker’s produces a “W.T.W.” ( Win The War) chocolate for allied armies fighting overseas in World War I.

Construction begins on the Administration Building and finishes in 1919.

The first annual company outing is held at Houghton’s Pond in south Milton.

The Power House switches from coal to a cleaner-burning fuel oil.

Co-operative group life insurance plans are offered.

A new medical department is established on-site with a full-time registered nurse.

Baker’s becomes a division of Postum Cereal Company (later named General Foods).

Baker’s introduces its first milk chocolate.

An industrial relations department is established.

Vacation pay is provided for regular employees.

A sickness benefit plan is introduced.

Federal Labor Union No. 21243 of Dorchester Lower Mills is created.

Life and health insurance are expanded by Group Life Insurance.

The cooling system is expanded and modern refrigeration is installed in warehouses.

The concrete Grain Elevators and Silos are built.

Baker’s develops a special “Ration D Bar” for armed forces overseas fighting in World War II. These are also used as emergency rations and distributed to the Red Cross for prisoners of war.

Baker’s is one of several candy companies to donate chocolate for the Berlin Airlift.

General Foods Corporation consolidates four plant operations, including Baker's, into one. Plans would move Baker’s to a new 1,600-person facility in Dover, Delaware. Baker’s is now part of General Foods Jell-O division.

Lower Mills Industrial District, which includes the former Baker's mill complex, is accepted to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Pierce and Preston mills are combined into one large residential structure with eighty apartments.

The grain elevators and silos are torn down. Initial plans for the site include apartments with a multi-level parking garage. The site is now a parking lot for residents of the Baker Square Condominiums (formerly the Forbes mill building).

Philip Morris merges General Foods and Kraft to form Kraft General Foods.

Kraft General Foods is renamed Kraft Foods, Inc.

The Administration Building opens as residential housing with thirteen artists’ lofts.

Plans to redevelop the Baker Mill and Power House into condominiums are underway.

Baker’s Reserve 225th Anniversary Bar is introduced in celebration of a Baker’s milestone year.