Like many patriots, Revere sought to end America's reliance on imported goods from England. Among these were sheets of copper which was used in many ways from roofing to covering wooden ship hulls and various domestic goods. At age 65, after securing a loan from the federal government, Revere purchased and renovated an old mill near the Neponset River in Canton, Massachusetts. His mill became the first in America to produce strategically important, rolled copper sheets for commercial use supplying a burgeoning ship building industry.

attributed to Paul Revere, circa 1800,
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA, 2/20/20