Chace Mills is a 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 on Lewiston and Salem Streets in
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state.
Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...
. Built in 1872, it is one of the city's most visible historic mills, with a particularly fine Italianate stair tower. The complex was added to 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 1983.
Description and history
Chace Mills is set on the south side of the
Quequechan River
The Quequechan River is a river in Fall River, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, that flows in a northwesterly direction from the northwest corner of the Watuppa Ponds, South Watuppa Pond through the heart of the city of Fall River, M ...
, on the northeast side of Lewiston Street at its junction with Salem Street. The 5-1/2 story stone building is prominently visible from
Interstate 195. It is built out of local granite and measures . Its most prominent and distinctive feature is the central stair tower, which rises to an open belfry with rounded-arch openings in Palladian arrangement. The tower is topped by a low-pitch hip roof with broad eaves decorated with paired brackets and dentil moulding.
The mill was organized in 1872 and built for the manufacture of cotton cloth with a capacity of 43,480 spindles. Augustus Chace served as the company's first president. In 1895, a two-story granite addition measuring 310 feet by 120 feet was built for weaving. The company also had a large one-story cotton storage building to the south of Mill No. 2, along the shoreline. The complex also includes two small wooden office buildings in front of the main mill. The mill was taken over by Arkwright in 1929.
Phillips; History of Fall River
/ref> In 1999 a fire destroyed the adjacent weave shed and cotton storage buildings, but the main mill was saved, thanks in large part to a favorable winds.
See also
*
*List of mills in Fall River, Massachusetts
The city of Fall River, Massachusetts once had over 120 cotton textile mills and was the leading cotton textile center in the United States during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
There are currently about 65 historic textile mills rem ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings completed in 1872
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Textile mills in Fall River, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Fall River, Massachusetts
1872 establishments in Massachusetts