About Us

Based in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Hawtan Leathers has been a manufacturer and distributor of fine leather for over 70 years. Hawtan operates one of the largest tanneries in the Caribbean under the name Cuirs Hawtan, S.A.

Cuirs S.A. tans Caribbean and U.S. goatskin, hairsheep, cowhide, deerskin and splits primarily for use as glove leather and calfskins for garment leather. Our tannery, situated on five acres along the ocean in a suburb south west of Port Au Prince, Haiti, has the capacity to tan 700,000 square feet of leather monthly which is then sent to our warehouse in Newburyport where it is sorted and shipped to glove and garment manufacturers in the U.S., Canada and Asia.

The majority of our hides and skins are purchased locally and throughout the Caribbean through our established franchise collection system around the islands. The remainder comes from the U.S. We offer a variety of colors and textures to our customers while always preserving our commitment to quality.

History

Hawtan Leather's predecessor company, Hoyt & Worthen Tanning Corporation, was founded after WWI by Aaron Hoyt, a New England industrialist from Haverhill, Massachusetts. His son, Chuck, later moved the tanning operations from Haverhill, to Haiti in 1970. He changed the name to Hawtan (HoytAndWorthenTANning) Leathers and hired Egon Kneivel from the Goldsmith Leather Company to run and co-own the operations. The merchandising and administrative offices remained in Haverhill, along with a 6000 square foot warehouse until 2003, when Dan Gallagher purchased Hawtan Leathers and Cuirs Hawtan (Haitian operation) from Chuck and Egon and moved the head offices and warehouse to Newburyport, Massachusetts. Dan Gallagher is the third generation of Gallagher's in the leather business, with experience in trading, tanning and finishing and has continued Hawtan's tradition of tanning high quality leather at affordable prices.