Our History

In 1908, the town of Littleton erected a new industrial plant of four stories and basement for the Sears Roebuck Shoe Factory, which after seven years of operation sold to the Norfolk Knitting Mill company.

In 1933, Holly Shoe Factory moved to the building and produced 3600 pairs of shoes daily! Holly Shoe Company sold in 1953 to Joseph Connors and Hans Hoffman and the company became know as Connors and Hoffmann Footwear which grew to become one of the larger shoe companies in New Hampshire employing 600 people in Littleton until the company sold in 1966.

Through the sixties and seventies other shoe companies resided in the building until Hitchiner Manufacturing Company bought the building in 1984. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Milford, New Hampshire, Hitchiner Manufacturing Co., Inc. is the premier industrial supplier of complete-to-print, high-volume, complex thin-wall investment castings and fully-finished casting-based subassemblies and components.

In 2015, Hitchiner consolidated their manufacturing operations with its Milford headquarters and closed the Littleton plant. Littleton leaders actively searched to find developers interested in revitalizing the historic building.

In 2021, Allen Croteau, of Derry, who owns and manages 50 housing units in southern New Hampshire, purchased the building to transform the empty building into beautiful, upscale housing units and retail space, now known as The Rail Trail Village.

Al Croteau gathered together a group of friends and family to create this visionary property and all have become active partners in the company: 

Rail Trail Village Partners:  
Rob Denise
Dave Pallaria
Bill Marsden
Kyle Croteau

Meet the full RTV Team bringing this building into the future....