Nashua Manufacturing Company Historical District Clock Tower Place with iron fence in front

The Nashua Manufacturing Company Historic District in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...

, is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

that 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 ...

(NRHP) in 1987. It encompasses an area just west of downtown Nashua, roughly located along the southern bank of the

Nashua River The Nashua River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 is a tributary of the Merrimack River in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the United States. It i ...

, bordered on the west side by

Mine Falls Park Mine Falls Park is a park in the city of Nashua, New Hampshire, United States. Located in the heart of the city, it was purchased in 1969 from the Nashua, New Hampshire Foundation with city and federal Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) mo ...

, on the south side by the Nashua River canal, up to Ledge Street, and from the east side by Factory, Pine and Water streets, up to the Main Street bridge. . Today this area is dominated by the clock tower at "Clock Tower Place" apartments, and the large "Millyard" smokestack of the Picker building. The district takes its name from the time when this complex of buildings belonged to the

Nashua Manufacturing Company The Nashua Manufacturing Company was a cotton textile manufacturer in Nashua, New Hampshire that operated from 1823 to 1945. It was one of several textile companies that helped create what became the city of Nashua, creating roads, churches and its ...

, and though surrounding buildings also served the company in some way or another, they are not included in the district. The Nashua Manufacturing Company was originally built as a cotton mill and was incorporated in 1823. Their competitor, the Jackson Manufacturing Company, located downstream on the other side of the Main Street bridge at Jackson Falls dam, was incorporated in 1824.

Nashua power canal

Though all of Mine Falls Park is not a part of the district, the entirety of the Nashua River Canal is, up to and including the 1886 Mine Falls Gatehouse. This "Upper", or "

Power canal A Power canal refers to a canal used for hydraulic power generation, rather than for transport of watercraft. The power canal was a major factor in the Industrial revolution in New England in the 19th century. Most early power canals were mill ...

" is long, deep and wide, and it was dug and in operation by 1830. It contributed significantly to the economic prosperity of the company.''History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N.H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass.''
by Charles James Fox, 1846 on

Google books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

Historical significance

In 1835 the town was the third largest city of New Hampshire after

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, and the Nashua Manufacturing Company opened their own bank, called the Nashua Bank. The creation of a new railroad line to Nashua from

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, in 1838 gave the local economy a further boost, and the

Nashua Iron Company Nashua may refer to: * Nashaway people, Native American tribe living in 17th-century New England Places In Australia: * Nashua, New South Wales In the United States: * Nashua, California * Nashua, Iowa * Nashua, Minnesota * Nashua, Kansas City ...

opened, specializing in locomotive parts for this growing new industry. The Nashua Manufacturing Company built 48 houses or tenements and two churches to be able to hire enough workers to man the machinery in its complex.Nashua history
on City of Nashua website

Listed properties

* Mill #1 (1856–1857), rebuilt 1826 mill which burned in 1856 * Mill#2 (1867) * Mill#3 (1835–1836), oldest remaining structure * Mill#4 (1844–1845) * Picker building (1866–1881) * Cotton house (1845–1898) *

Boiler house A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

(with "Millyard tower") (1898) * North cotton storehouse () * Bleachery and dyehouse (1892–1919) * Repair shops and cloth room (1865–1899) *

(1824–1872) * Mine Falls Gatehouse (1886) * Storehouse #2 (1851–1885) * Storehouse #4 (1890) * Wastehouse (1896) * Picker building #6 (1890–1924) * Mill #6 (1899) and #6 annex (1902) * Mill #5 (1899) and #5 annex (1900) * Company office (1879) * Mill#7 (1904–1913) * West Auto house (1920s) * East Auto house () * Wheel house (1900) with 1902 turbine and generator * Oil house (1905) * South cotton storehouse (1916) * Through-Warren Truss bridge () * Iron fence () * Office building (1900)

Non-contributing elements within the designated area

* Nashua NH Foundation office (1941) * Boiler room (1948) * Dust collector (1950) * Power station (1948) * Pine street extension (1900) * Parking lot (1926)

References

{{NRHP in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Federal architecture in New Hampshire Italianate architecture in New Hampshire Historic districts in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Buildings and structures in Nashua, New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire Cotton mills in the United States

Nashua power canal

Historical significance

Listed properties

Non-contributing elements within the designated area

See also

References