industrial history

Valley Falls Mill // 1849

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The Valley Falls Mill sits along the Blackstone River in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and is one of the many significant industrial complexes which facilitated the development and growth of the city. The main building in the complex is the four-story rectangular building, constructed in 1849. To meet the requirements of fire resistance, the mill was constructed with load-bearing brick walls and heavy timber columns. Samuel B. and Harvey Chace, sons of Fall River mill owner Oliver Chace, built the mill on this site, influenced not only by the availability of water power, but also by the completion the same year of the Providence & Worcester Railroad, which passes by the mill on its east side. The mill was designed for the manufacture of a variety of cotton products. The Valley Falls Company merged with another industrial concern in 1929, and this mill was subsequently closed the following year. After decades of little-to-no use, the significant Valley Falls Mill was converted into senior housing in 1979 following its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. It ranks as one of the earliest mill conversion projects in New England and while some details were lost, it preserves a significant piece of local history and meets a much-needed demand of housing.

Ames Sword Company Offices // c.1865

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Adjacent to the main Ames Manufacturing Company mills in Chicopee, Massachusetts, this handsome brick structure has ties to industry and the economic growth of the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Tucked away on Grape Street, at the edge of the Chicopee River, this building was built following the American Civil War as the offices of the Gaylord Manufacturing Company, a later subsidiary of the Ames Manufacturing Company. The company was run by Emerson Gaylord, a manufacturer, who produced leather belting and swords for the military just before and during the War. After the Civil War, the Gaylord company manufactured cabinet locks and society swords. In 1881, the adjacent Ames Manufacturing Company consolidated its own sword department with the Gaylord Manufacturing Company, forming the Ames Sword Company. The company would close in the 1930s, and today, this handsome brick building with corbelled cornice and segmental arches, sits vacant, awaiting preservation and a new life.

Dwight Manufacturing Company Complex // 1841+

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The Dwight Manufacturing Company is named for Edmund Dwight (1780-1849) of Boston, an industrialist who envisioned an industrial town on the Chicopee River. Dwight, having a country home in Chicopee, had begun a venture with his brother, Jonathan, at Chicopee Falls creating the Chicopee Manufacturing Company, to produce cotton cloth. Due to the company’s immediate success, the Dwights along with other investors formed the Springfield Canal Company in 1831, with the goal to create the “new Lowell”, an industrial community in what is now Chicopee Center. In 1856, the Dwight Mills purchased some earlier mill complexes, creating the Dwight Manufacturing Company and consolidating all their cotton cloth manufacturing into one organization. In addition to the mills, the Company also built employee housing
along Depot and Dwight Streets, a stone’s throw from the mills. The creation of employee housing allowed the Company to attract new employees in particular women and children, nearly all immigrants, who could be housed together. My favorite part of the complex is the entrance gate, built in 1894, connecting the Office and Cloth Building. It is amazing to think of all of the people who passed through this portal, working long hours for a better life. Overtime as production methods changed and technology evolved, nearly all the original mills would be replaced or retrofitted. Despite the changes, the Company could not remain profitable and shut down production in 1927 and ultimately selling the land and equipment in 1930. Some smaller manufacturing has since occupied some of these buildings, but they remain largely (if not entirely) vacant, awaiting a new life.

Beebe Building // 1886

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Located at 127-133 South Street in the under-appreciated Leather District of Boston, the 1886 Beebe Building is an excellent vestige of the leathergoods trade and commercial architecture of the late 19th century. This building was constructed by J. Franklin Faxon (1832-1912), a business owner who engaged in real estate development and built a number of commercial blocks in this part of Boston. Rand & Taylor, architects, designed the building in an effective blending of Classical and Romanesque styles with rock faced brownstone ashlar above the storefronts, oculus windows, and segmental arched openings on the top floor. The Classical detailing of the two-story brick pilasters and modillion cornice add to its complexity. The building was originally occupied by the Thomas E. Proctor Leather Company and was later purchased by leather goods company Lucius Beebe & Sons and the storefront was renovated by Hutchins & French in 1930. The building has since been known as the Beebe Building and has been well-maintained by subsequent owners.  

Former Columbian Cotton Mill // 1864

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While New Ipswich, New Hampshire, is best known for its early Georgian and Federal period architecture, the small town is home to Warwick Mills, the site of the oldest textile mill in the state. Originally built circa 1807, the mills here burned down two times and were rebuilt a third time using brick; that third iteration is the building seen today. The brick for the building was forged on site and was finished in 1864, with signatures on the beams by craftsmen as far south as Baltimore. The mill was home to the Columbian Mill Company, who created textiles from cotton and other materials in the building, becoming a leading employer in the region. The building is now known as the Warwick Mill, and is an active manufacturing complex, making many contemporary and high-quality materials for 21st century clothing. The buildings exhibit stunning corbel detailing.

Norwood Press Complex // 1897

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Now that is an interesting example of adaptive use… What do you think of this?

The Norwood Press was formed in 1894 by several companies which consolidated to form a company that covered all aspects of the book-making process. AII three companies had been located in Boston, but were lured to Norwood by free land offered by the local Business Association along with tax incentives that were too good to pass up. The underutilized land was quickly redeveloped in the 1890s with the several-building complex built on Washington Street in Norwood, Massachusetts with the largest building (pictured) constructed in 1897. By 1904,the press room of this plant was one of the largest in the U.S.,producing nearly seven million volumes ranging from 100 to 1,600 pages each. By 1917, the Norwood Press employed 600 workers in town! The Romanesque Revival style brick factory stands out for its five-story clocktower with (now enclosed) arches and corbelling. The Norwood Press closed after WWII and the plant was purchased by the Northrup Company. Today, the warehouse is under new ownership and is used as a storage facility, with many of the windows enclosed for the storage units.

Former Sheffield Mill // 1887

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The former Sheffield Mill is historically and architecturally significant as one of the last remaining large-scale manufacturing complex to survive in the village of Saugerties, New York. The building was constructed in 1887 as the J. B. Sheffield Paper Company and was used for the manufacturing of envelopes and bank bookbinding. In the 1930s, the building was purchased by the Knaust Brothers, who grew and harvested mushrooms in nearby towns, making mushroom beds or trays in this building. The Knaust Brothers were at one time, one of the largest firms growing and canning mushrooms in the world. The former mill was vacant by the late 20th century and its future was uncertain until it was renovated at the turn of the present century into senior housing. What a great rebirth of a great old mill!

Albert T. Stearns Lumber Company Office // c.1855

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The Stearns Lumber Company, which eventually covered forty acres, was opened by Albert Thomas Stearns in 1849 at Port Norfolk, in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The location was ideal for transportation as wood could arrive by ship via the harbor or by rail. Stearns made everything from greenhouses, to water tanks, to millwork, but they specialized in wooden gutters, a necessary component in housing construction, and even invented a machine just for this purpose. Stearns’ machine removed the core of the gutter in one piece with a cylinder saw, which allowed the leftover product to be reduced into moulding, trim, ect. Stearns specialized in Cypress lumber and erected a saw mill in Florida, having it shipped up to his lumberyard in Port Norfolk. He became known as the Apostle of Cypress. The company eventually closed in 1968, after decades in losses of national lumber production and an increase in the use of cement and steel in building. The former Stearns Lumber Company yards were redeveloped and is now the site of Joseph Finnegan Park. The brick company office building is the last extant building from the historic A. T. Stearns Lumber Company, and its future is uncertain. The building is currently owned by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), who asked for the building to be demolished, causing the local neighborhood to speak out for its preservation. This is one to watch out for!

Shaw Warehouse // 1806

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The Shaw Warehouse located inside Prescott Park in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was constructed between 1806 and 1813 and is significant as a rare example of a vernacular warehouse building from the early 19th century. It is very vernacular, unadorned with a very functional use, but these types of buildings (like barns and stables) are some of the most charming and provide a link to working-class history from the past. The building is the only of its kind remaining in its original location in Portsmouth, and as a result, was listed in 2011 on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. It now houses offices for the nearby park.

Baltic Mill Warehouse // c.1890

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Situated along the Shetucket River in Sprague, Connecticut, lies the remains of what was once the nation’s largest textile mill. At its peak, over 1,000 employees operated 1,750 looms and 70,000 spindles to produce some of the country’s finest cotton. The Baltic Mill (as it became known) not only helped reshape Connecticut’s economic and cultural landscape, but its geographic one as well, giving rise to the founding of an entirely new village. The Baltic Mill did very well until the economic Panic of 1873 set in, decimating the company’s finances. The mill was forced to scale back their operations. Then, in 1877, a fire destroyed the interior of the mill, bringing an end to the complex for decades. At the turn of the 20th century, a businessman from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, named Frederick Sayles purchased the property with an eye toward revitalizing the local textile industry. He founded the Baltic Mills Company and set about making extensive repairs and upgrades to the property, including this c.1890 storage building for materials and finished textiles. Unfortunately for Sayles, the New England textile industry had already begun to decline and it wasn’t long before the company’s depleted finances forced Sayles to sell off much of its assets. The company did survive long enough to produce uniforms, parachutes, and life rafts for soldiers in World War II, but the mill’s operations ultimately came to a halt in 1966. The large 19th century mill would eventually be demolished, but this old Warehouse (a fraction of the size of the mill) is one of the last industrial pieces of the former sprawling complex and is now occupied by local businesses.