The Bigelow Carpet Mill is an historic
textile mill
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 at Union and High Streets in
Clinton, Massachusetts
Clinton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 15,428 at the 2020 census.
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Clinton, please see the article Clinton (CDP), Massach ...
. Built in 1847 and repeatedly enlarged until 1922, this large mill complex was one of the world's major early automated manufacturers of
Brussels tapestry
Brussels tapestry workshops produced tapestry from at least the 15th century, but the city's early production in the Late Gothic International style was eclipsed by the more prominent tapestry-weaving workshops based in Arras and Tournai. In 1 ...
, established by Horatio and
Erastus Bigelow. The mill was listed 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 1978.
Description and history
The Bigelow Carpet Mill complex is located just south of downtown Clinton. Most of the complex is bounded on the north by Union Street, the south by Pleasant Street, and the west by School Street, with one building on the west side of School Street. The complex includes six brick buildings, ranging in height from two to five stories. Two of the buildings exhibit a measure of commercial Italianate styling, with round-arch windows and brick corbelling, and distinctive crenellated and corbelled towers in two locations. The interior framing of the buildings is general large timbers.
The mill complex's history begins in 1847, when Erastus Bigelow received the first of forty patents related to the automated manufacture of carpeting. In 1849, in partnership with his brother Horatio, they began manufacturing
Brussels tapestry
Brussels tapestry workshops produced tapestry from at least the 15th century, but the city's early production in the Late Gothic International style was eclipsed by the more prominent tapestry-weaving workshops based in Arras and Tournai. In 1 ...
in an already-existing building on this site. That building no longer stands; the oldest surviving building of the complex was built by the Bigelows in 1855. The Bigelow Carpet Company grew to become a leading manufacturer of carpeting in the late 19th century, its complex here growing to accommodate increased production. In the 1880s its earlier buildings were extensively reworked, giving the complex a distinct late-19th-century appearance. The mill was closed in the 1930s, its components either vacant or used for storage until the 1970s, when they began to see increased industrial use again.
[ The complex is now global headquarters for Nypro, a design, manufacturing and supply chain solutions provider for medical devices, diagnostics and pharmaceutical delivery systems.
]
See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Worcester County, Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Clinton, Massachusetts