Mill town

Settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is a community that developed around one or more textile or other industrial mills, where the local economy centered on mill production and company owners typically provided housing, stores, schools, and other services to support workers and their families. Emerging prominently during the early 19th-century Industrial Revolution, mill towns harnessed water power from rivers to mechanize textile manufacturing, initially concentrating in New England before expanding southward, where they eclipsed northern production by the 1920s through lower labor costs and abundant resources. These towns featured a paternalistic social structure, with mill corporations exerting broad influence over daily life to ensure labor stability and productivity, fostering economic booms that built infrastructure but also vulnerability to market fluctuations, technological changes, and eventual deindustrialization.

Europe

Italy

Crespi d'Adda (Italy)

Poland

Żyrardów – winter panorama of main square

Żyrardów

The town grew out of a textile factory founded in 1833 by the sons of Feliks Lubienski, who owned the land where it was built. They brought in a specialist from France and his newly designed machines. He was French inventor, Philippe de Girard from Lourmarin. He became a director of the firm.[5] The factory town developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill town in Poland. In honour of Girard, 'Ruda Guzowska' as the original estate was called, was renamed Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name.

Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only entire urban industrial complex from the 19th-century to be preserved in Europe.

Russian Empire

United Kingdom

East Mill in Derbyshire, UK

In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" usually refers to the 19th-century textile manufacturing towns of northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in Lancashire (cotton) and Yorkshire (wool).

Some former mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne[6]) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).

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County Towns
Cheshire mill towns

Congleton, Crewe, Macclesfield

Derbyshire mill towns

Glossop, Hadfield, New Mills

Greater Manchester mill towns

Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Chadderton, Failsworth, Heywood, Hyde, Lees, Leigh, Manchester, Middleton, Oldham, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Reddish, Rochdale, Royton, Shaw and Crompton, Stalybridge, Stockport, Wigan

Lancashire mill towns

Accrington, Bacup, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Calder Vale, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Nelson, Oakenclough, Padiham, Preston for others see table below.

Yorkshire mill towns

Batley, Bingley, Bradford, Brighouse, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Keighley, Morley, Mytholmroyd, Ossett, Pudsey, Shipley, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Yeadon

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The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.

More information Date ...
Spindleage of some large mill towns in and around Greater Manchester[notes 1] between 1830 and 1962
Date1883189319031913192319261933194419531962
Accrington59043846766019171846928715292
Ashton1,5741,7311,7811,95518981,144644633182
Blackburn1,6711,3981,3211,2801,2241,071672451309103
Bolton4,0864,7705,4576,7977,3717,8427,5076,2044,8861,772
Burnley1,12673466756353850724018214414
Bury87589983395510501000745630524268
Chorley552527541856838837739491397122
Farnworth5577799661,4851,4781,4841,3441,2371,104162
Glossop1,1061,15896888282183952420415410
Heywood6608878361,0701,1001,09686454553368
Hyde59049953374179369647536633758
Leigh1,3371,5141,6792,4452,7612,9252,8912,6152,336548
Manchester2,4452,353,2,2253,7033,3073,4393,4172,9741,934271
Middleton4984946451,2781,2681,2521,0411,193923161
Mossley1,1531,2171,0331,2881,2971,289371264256-
Oldham9,31111,15912,23016,90917,23117,66913,7328,9487,6212,478
Preston2,1461,8832,0742,1611,9971,9651,5921,1461,024278
Rochdale1,6271,8352,4223,6453,7493,7933,5392,4591,936983
Stalybridge1,0831,1571,0271,2361,1041,103801483426122
Stockport1,6011,7421,5682,2662,3821,9241,4271,141154
Wigan8647758881,0851,1231,141922681575352
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In thousands of spindles.[7]

On his tour of northern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:

In general, these towns wear a monotonous sameness of aspect, physical and moral ... In fact, the social condition of the different town populations is almost as much alike as the material appearance of the tall chimneys under which they live. Here and there the height of the latter may differ by a few rounds of brick, but in all essential respects, a description of one is a description of all.[8]

— Angus Reach, Morning Chronicle, 1849

The term mill town was revived in the British media during the debate over relations between whites and Asians in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns in the early 2000s, including the 2001 Oldham riots and 2001 Bradford riots.[9][10][11] The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines that suffer from sometimes significant racial tension. Some mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns"[12] because of the large number of British Pakistani Muslims who live there. After the Second World War, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they moved to traditional working-class areas whilst the white working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war.[13]

North America

United States

New England and Northeast

Peabody, Massachusetts A. C. Lawrence Leather Co. a factory town c. 1910.[14][15]
The Androscoggin River at Berlin, New Hampshire

Beginning with Samuel Slater and technological information smuggled out of England by Francis Cabot Lowell, large mills were established in New England in the early to mid-19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as a company town, grew in the shadow of the industries. The region became a manufacturing powerhouse along rivers like the Housatonic, Quinebaug, Shetucket, Blackstone, Merrimack, Nashua, Cocheco, Saco, Androscoggin, Kennebec or Winooski.

In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.

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State Towns
Connecticut mill towns

Ansonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Collinsville, Danbury, Derby, East Windsor, Enfield, Glastonbury, Hartford, Killingly, Madison, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Putnam, Sandy Hook, Seymour, Shelton, Torrington, Vernon, Waterbury, Willimantic, Winchester, Windham, Windsor Locks

Maine mill towns

Anson, Auburn, Augusta, Baileyville, Biddeford, Brunswick, Chisholm, Corinna, Lewiston, Lincoln, Lisbon Falls, Livermore Falls, Millinocket, Milo, Monmouth, Newport, Old Town, Orono, Pittsfield, Portland, Rumford, Saco, Sanford, Skowhegan, Waterville, Westbrook, Wilton

Massachusetts mill towns
See also: List of mill towns in Massachusetts

Adams, Amesbury, Athol, Attleboro, Boston, Chicopee, Clinton, Dalton, Dedham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Grafton, Greenfield, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopesdale, Hudson, Lawrence, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Maynard, Medford, Merrimac, Methuen, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, North Adams, North Andover, Northbridge, Orange, Palmer, Peabody, Pittsfield, Rowley, Russell, Southbridge, Springfield, Taunton, Uxbridge, Waltham, Ware, Webster, Westborough, Winchendon, Worcester

New Hampshire mill towns

Belmont, Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, East Rochester, Franklin, Gonic, Gorham, Greenville, Groveton, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Keene, Laconia, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lincoln, Manchester, Milford, Milton, Nashua, Newmarket, Newport, Penacook, Pittsfield, Rochester, Rollinsford, Somersworth, Suncook, Tilton, Troy, Wilton

New Jersey mill towns

Allaire, Allentown, Bernards, Boonton, Butler, Camden, Chester, Clinton, Cranbury, Cranford, Dover, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Freehold, Griggstown, Helmetta, Hillsborough, Imlaystown, Jamesburg, Kearny, Kingston, Little Falls, Manville, Medford, Millhurst, Milltown, Millville, New Brunswick, Newark, Orange, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Prallsville, Rahway, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Scobeyville, Smithville, South Brunswick, Stillwater, Tinton Falls, Trenton, Walnford, Wharton, Woodbridge

New York mill towns

Albany, Amsterdam, Aurora-on-Cayuga, Beacon, Belmont, Bloomvale, Buffalo, Clinton, Corning, Dumbo, Gardiner, Ithaca, Kingston, Little Falls, Marlboro, Mechanicville, Middletown, Montgomery, New Berlin, New York Mills, Newburgh, Newcomb, Niles, Philmont, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Rome, Roslyn, Saddle Rock, Schenectady, Schuylerville, Sleepy Hollow, Stony Brook, Sunset Park, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Victory, Water Mill

Rhode Island mill towns

Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Coventry, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence, Slatersville, Valley Falls, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket

Vermont mill towns

Bellows Falls, Bethel, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Burlington, Ludlow, Newport, Springfield, Vergennes, Winooski

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  • Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT, in 1909
    Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT, in 1909
  • American Thread Co. Mill, Willimantic, CT, c. 1910
    American Thread Co. Mill, Willimantic, CT, c. 1910
  • Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, Waterville, ME, c. 1920
    Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, Waterville, ME, c. 1920
  • Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME, c. 1902
    Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME, c. 1902
  • Mill Street, Attleboro, MA, in 1908
    Mill Street, Attleboro, MA, in 1908
  • Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA, in 1907
    Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA, in 1907
  • Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA, c. 1905
    Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA, c. 1905
  • Amoskeag Mills, Manchester, NH, c. 1912
    Amoskeag Mills, Manchester, NH, c. 1912
  • Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH, in 1907
    Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH, in 1907
  • Alice Mills, Woonsocket, RI, in 1911
    Alice Mills, Woonsocket, RI, in 1911
  • Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT, in 1907
    Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT, in 1907

Midwest

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State Towns
Wisconsin mill towns

Biron (Biron Mill)

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South

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State Towns
Alabama mill towns

Fairfax (Fairfax Mill and Fair View Mill), Lanett (Lanett Mill), Langdale (Langdale Mill), Sylacauga (Avondale Mill), Opelika (Opelika Mill), River View (Riverdale Mill), Shawmut (Shawmut Mill), Valley (Carter/Lanier Mill)

Arkansas mill towns

Amity, Beirne, Calion, Crossett, Delight, Dierks, Glenwood, Jones Mill, Malvern, Mountain Pine

Georgia mill towns

Bibb City, Cabbagetown, Chicopee, Hogansville, New Holland, New Manchester

Maryland mill towns

Ellicott City, Jerusalem, Oella, Owings Mills, Savage

North Carolina mill towns

Alamance, Altamahaw, Bellemont, Burlington, Bynum, Canton, Caroleen, Carolina, Carrboro, Cliffside, Coleridge, Concord, Cooleemee, Cramerton, Drexel, Eden, Edgemont (East Durham), Enka, Falls, Franklinville, Glen Raven, Glencoe, Hanes, Haw River, Henrietta, High Falls, High Shoals, Hildebran, Hope Mills, Kannapolis, Long Shoals, Mayodan, McAdenville, Mooresville, Mount Holly, Oakdale, Ramseur, Rhodhiss, Riegelwood, Roanoke Rapids, Sawmills, Saxapahaw, Spencer Mountain, Swepsonville, West Durham, West Hillsborough

South Carolina mill towns

Cateechee, Central, Cherokee Falls, Columbia (Olympia and Granby Mills), Fort Mill, Glendale, Graniteville, Great Falls, Inman, Joanna, La France, Lockhart, Lyman, Newry, Pacolet Mills, Pelzer, Piedmont, Slater-Marietta, Startex, Ware Shoals, Watts Mills, Whitmire, Judson, Dunean, Park Place, City View, Sans Souci

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  • Model Mill Settlement, Chadwick Mills, Charlotte, N.C. Published c. 1905–1915
    Model Mill Settlement, Chadwick Mills, Charlotte, N.C. Published c. 1905–1915
  • White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C. c. 1914
    White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C. c. 1914
  • Aerial view of Ware Shoals Mill
    Aerial view of Ware Shoals Mill

Sawmill towns

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State Towns
IllinoisCarrier Mills, Harrisburg
OregonRoseburg
Washington Longview
WisconsinEau Claire
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South America

Colombia

See also

Notes

  1. [1]
    Sourced from a book entitled Cotton Mills of Greater Manchester, although not all of these towns are within Greater Manchester.

References

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