Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tarare

TARARE, on the Turdine, a manufacturing town of France, and the second most populous in the department of Rhône, is 25 miles north-west of Lyons. Within a circle drawn 25 or 30 miles from the town more than 60,000 workmen are employed, and the value of the textile fabrics produced exceeds £600,000 per annum. Tarlatans are made in Tarare on more than 3000 Jacquard looms. The manufacture of Swiss cotton yarns and crochet embroideries was introduced at the end of last century; in the beginning of the 19th figured stuffs, openworks, and zephyrs were first produced. The manufacture of silk plush for hats and machine-made velvets, which was set up a few years ago, now employs 2900 workmen and 500 girls, the latter being engaged in silk throwing and winding. There are, besides, four or five dyeing and printing establishments, and silk looms working for the Lyons trade. An important commerce is carried on in corn, cattle, linen, hemp, thread, and leather. In 1886 the population was 11,848 (commune 12,980).

Till 1756, when Simonnet introduced the manufacture of muslins from Switzerland, Tarare lay unknown among the mountains. On the old castle to which the town owes its origin may be seen the arms of the family of Albon.