The Arlington Mills Historic District encompasses a major 19th century

textile manufacturing Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

complex in

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and

Methuen, Massachusetts Methuen () is a 23 square mile (60 km2) city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of ...

. Developed between 1865 and 1925, it was one of the state's largest textile operations at its height. At the time of its listing on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1985, the mill complex was owned by

Malden Mills Malden Mills Industries is the original manufacturer of Polartec polar fleece and manufactures other modern textiles. The company is located in Andover, Massachusetts and has operations in Hudson, New Hampshire. History Malden Mills was foun ...

Description and history

The Arlington Mills occupy of land straddling the boundary between Lawrence and Methuen. It is bounded on the east by Broadway, a historic post road, and on the west by the

Spicket River The Spicket River is a river located in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the United States. It is a left tributary of the Merrimack River, part of the Gulf of Maine watershed. It is sometimes spelled "Spickett". The Spicket River begins at the ...

, which originally supplied it with power. The complex has 23 buildings, most of which are of brick construction. The largest is the 1896 wool-combing mill, which is long, while the 1906 worsted weaving mill is long. The first industrial use of this site was about 1820, when Abiel Stevens built a wood-frame factory in which

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

cases were built. Stevens' first mill burned in 1855, and he rebuilt the following year. The Arlington Mills Company began operation in 1865, after purchasing this location; its investors were owners of Lawrence's other mill operations. In 1880 their 1865 building was demolished and replaced by a new brick structure, now termed the worsted-weave shed which is one of the surviving buildings. The complex grew over the years, and was by 1925 one of the largest textile factories in the state. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

it supplied large quantities of flannel and wool shirting to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. The Arlington Mills Company suffered financial reverses during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and closed its doors in 1952.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts in Essex County, Massachusetts Lawrence, Massachusetts Methuen, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References