Crescent Mill, later Merchant Mill No. 3, is an historic cotton
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 ...
located at 54 Front Street 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 during an industrial construction boom, it is one of the city's finest examples of Italianate mill architecture. The building 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.
It is now used for other light industrial purposes.
Description and history
Crescent Mill stands in geographically central Fall River, at the southeast corner of Pleasant and Front Streets. The mill is a long rectangular four-story structure, measuring . It is built out of rough-cut native
Fall River granite in the Italianate style, except for its six-story tower, which is fashioned out of dressed ashlar granite. The top floor of the mill has an unusual column-free space, made possible by suspending its ceiling from the roof trusses.
The mill was built by the Crescent Mill Corporation in 1872; its design is credited to the company treasurer, Lafayette Nichols. Benjamin Covel served as the company's first president. The mill, powered by steam, had a capacity of 33,280 spindles at the outset, producing brown sheetings and fine fabrics. The mill was sold to Merchants Manufacturing Company in 1893, and became known as Merchant's Mill No. 3.
Phillips History of Fall River
/ref> Merchants had built its first two mills across Pleasant Street; they were destroyed by fire in 1934. This mill was closed as a textile operation in 1931.[
]
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
Textile mills in Fall River, Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Fall River, Massachusetts