The Groton Leatherboard Company is a historic former factory complex at 6 W. Main Street in

West Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 17 ...

. It manufactured leatherboard, a

bonded leather Bonded leather, also called reconstituted leather, composition leather or blended leather, is a term used for a manufactured upholstery material which contains animal hide. It is made as a layered structure of a fiber or paper backer covered with ...

made by

pulping Pulp is a Lignocellulosic biomass, lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, Paper recycling, waste paper, or cotton paper, rags. Mixed with water and other chemica ...

and compressing scrap leather, waste paper and

wood pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw mate ...

, but went out of business. The structure has since been renovated and adapted into

senior housing A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...

called RiverCourt Residences. It 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 2002. The factory was built in 1916 on the site of an earlier

saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

and

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

, which operated by

waterpower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

from the

Squannacook River The Squannacook River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in northern Massachusetts. It is a tributary of the Nashua River and part of the Merrimac ...

. The original mill was established by the Tarbell family, a name prominent in Groton history since its settlement. The present complex's access road is flanked by brick houses built by brothers of that family; the Col. Abel Tarbell House is today a

bed-and-breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

, while the Asa Tarbell House is a mixed-use annex of the River Court senior housing facility. In 1862, artist Edmund C. Tarbell was born in the latter.Johnson, Sanford, ''Survey of West Groton''
Massachusetts Historical Commission 2006

References

External links

RiverCourt Residences
(the former Groton Leatherboard Co. factory)
Fall foliage at RiverCourt
on YouTube Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Groton, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Leather industry {{MiddlesexCountyMA-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links