So Minnesota: Faribault Woolen Mill Company

One Minnesota business has kept people warm for more than a century,

The company building is even on the National Register of Historic Places.

Faribault Woolen Mill Company started when the Civil War ended.

Founded by Carl Klemer in 1865, the company provided woolen blankets for pioneers heading west and to comfort our troops through two world wars. A recession a decade ago caused the mill to shut its doors for the first time in its long life.

Paul Mooty decided to buy the company and give it a new vision.

"The plumbing didn’t work," Mooty said. "The electrical power was shot. The roof was leaking. There was stuff everywhere. Oldest manufacturing company in Minnesota. It’s like ‘This is worth taking a shot at.’"

The mill employs 70 workers. Sales next year are expected to be more than $10 million.

The company’s 1892 building is one of the last vertical woolen mills in America. It’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.