River Works Plant, Massachusetts

GE made the first jet engine produced in America at this facility in 1942, and since that time, GE has become one of the largest designers and builders of aircraft engines in the world, building engines for more than half of the aircraft in America's military inventory, many of them at this plant (GE's main competitors are Pratt and Whitney, based in Connecticut, and Britain's Rolls-Royce). This massive industrial complex in Lynn, known as River Works, began to form in the late 1800s as the Thomson-Houston Company, a company that merged with the Edison General Electric Company to form General Electric, in 1892. It manufactured metal and electrical products such as turbines, generators, engines, lighting, gears, and other foundry products, supporting the electrification of America. As GE progressed into the engine industry, a second plant was built in Lockland, Ohio, a facility which became larger than River Works, and now GE Aircraft Engines is headquartered in Cincinnati.