The Old Colony Iron Works-Nemasket Mills Complex is a historic industrial site located on Old Colony Avenue in the
East Taunton
East Taunton is a suburban neighborhood of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States.
Economy
East Taunton is home to Massasoit State Park which offers mountain bike trails, and kayaking and fishing on the park's four main lakes, the largest of whi ...
section of
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount ...
, United States, adjacent to the
Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
at the
Raynham town line. The site was first occupied by the Old Colony Iron Company, which had originally been established in the 1820s as Horatio Leonard & Company. The western part of the complex was sold to Nemasket Mills in 1889. The eastern part was acquired by the Standard Oil Cloth Company. The site 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 1984.
Old Colony Iron Works
In 1813, Stephen King built a dam across the
Taunton River
The Taunton River (historically also called the "Taunton Great River"), is a river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United States. It arises from the confluence of the Town River and Matfield River, in the town of Bridgewater. From the ...
, a short distance above the site of what would become the Old Colony Iron Company. His rights were later acquired by Horatio Leonard & Company in 1823, when a new dam was built ten rods downstream. The new firm operated an iron works here, producing nails, tacks and rolled iron until 1842. The Taunton Tow Path Company operated barges from 1836 to 1854 along canals that were built on both sides of the river to bypass the dam. In 1843, a group of investors that included prominent Taunton businessman
Samuel L. Crocker, George A. Crocker, and brothers Charles and Enoch Robinson bought the idle iron works property. The Robinson brothers, originally of
Bridgewater, had been working for Horatio Leonard since about 1827.
In 1844, the new company was incorporated as the Old Colony Iron Company. The facilities were quickly expanded. By 1871, the manufacturing facilities consisted of a rolling mill and a nail mill on the west side of Old Colony Avenue and a shovel mill on the east side of Old Colony Avenue.
By the mid-1870s, the Old Colony Iron Company manufactured more nails than any other company in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
- as much as 130,000 kegs per year. By 1876, the equipment of the company included: 5 double and 6 single puddling furnaces, 9 heating furnaces, 96 nail machines, 5 trains of rolls and 5 hammers, operating on both water and steam power.
The company was hit with a substantial loss in August, 1881, when fire destroyed the nail factory and steam tack plate mill. However, the shovel mill survived destruction. Rather than rebuilding the nail mill, the company purchased the Somerset Iron Company's works in nearby
Somerset, Massachusetts
Somerset is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 18,303 at the 2020 census. It is the birthplace and hometown of Clifford Milburn Holland (1883–1924), the chief engineer and namesake of the Holland Tunnel ...
. The tack plate mill was rebuilt at
East Taunton
East Taunton is a suburban neighborhood of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States.
Economy
East Taunton is home to Massasoit State Park which offers mountain bike trails, and kayaking and fishing on the park's four main lakes, the largest of whi ...
.
After the 1881 fire, the company concentrated more production in the manufacture of rolled steel plate for shovels. However, during this period many iron works throughout
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
found it increasingly harder to compete with the iron and steel mills of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
and the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
, who with their easier access to coal and iron ore could produce far cheaper goods. By the end of the 1880s, many had gone out of business. Oliver Washburn, Jr. served as the last treasurer of the Old Colony Iron Company, when the property was sold in 1889.
The shovel mill located eastern portion of the iron works site was later occupied by the Standard Oil Cloth Company. In 1893, the Chandler Oil Cloth & Buckram Company was formed, with Frank W. Whitcher as president, a working capital of $200,000. The company manufactured
buckram
Buckram is a stiff cotton (occasionally linen or horse hair) cloth with a loose weave, often muslin. The fabric is soaked in a sizing agent such as wheat-starch paste, glue (such as PVA glue), or pyroxylin (gelatinized nitrocellulose, deve ...
, a heavy cotton cloth used for book covers, and oilcloth, a heavy waterproof cotton fabric.
Nemasket Mills
The Nemasket Mills Corporation was established in 1891 for cotton textile manufacture on the western portion of the former site of the Old Colony Iron Works. With an initial working capital of $400,000, Lewis Williams served as the company's first president. In 1899, this mill was acquired by New England Cotton Yarn Company, which also included the
Cohannet Mills in Taunton, and several other mills in
Fall River
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 ...
and
New Bedford
New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...
. The company's Taunton mills were sold in June, 1916.
Cohannet Mill No. 3, located at
Weir Village was sold by New England Cotton Yarn Company to William Butler, who renamed it ''Nemasket Mill''. The former Nemasket Mill (Old Colony Avenue) was sold to the Connecticut Cotton Mills Company. Operating as the Taunton Cotton Mills Company, the plant produced cotton cord for the tire industry.
America's textile reporter: for the combined textile industries, Volume 36, Issue 7; 1922
/ref>
Recent history
The former Nemasket Mills was converted into residential condominiums in the 1980s, with a large addition constructed at the rear of the site, and is known as River Bend Condominiums ( 96 Old Colony Avenue ). An interesting feature of the mill conversion
Mill Conversion or mill rehab is a form of adaptive reuse in which a historic mill or industrial factory building is restored or rehabilitated into another use, such as residential housing, retail shops, office, or a mix of these non-industrial e ...
was the removal of the original large mill window panes and the construction of a new wall behind the original openings, creating balcony areas for the residents.
The portion of the complex on the east side of Old Colony Avenue, formerly occupied by the shovel works, now contains various small commercial buildings.
See also
*Bridgewater Iron Works
The Bridgewater Iron Works is a historic industrial site located on High Street in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, United States, along the banks of the Town River. Previously known as Lazell, Perkins and Company, by the mid-19th century, the Bridg ...
*Fall River Iron Works
The American Printing Company, located in Fall River, Massachusetts grew to become the largest producer of printed cotton cloth in the United States by the early 20th Century. The company grew as an offshoot of the Fall River Iron Works, establishe ...
*
*Taunton Iron Works
The Taunton Iron Works (also known as Leonard Iron Works) was located on the banks of the Forge River in what is now Raynham, Massachusetts. It was the first iron works established in Plymouth Colony, and only the third in New England. Much mo ...
*Tremont Nail Company
The Tremont Nail Company was a nail manufacturing company located in Wareham, Massachusetts, from 1819 to 2006. The Tremont Nail brand was purchased by Acorn Manufacturing of Mansfield, Massachusetts, where it still produces cut nails and other pr ...
*Nahum Stetson
Nahum Stetson (August 21, 1807 - October 6, 1894) was a leading businessman from southeastern Massachusetts during the 19th century. He is best known for his role in establishing the Bridgewater Iron Company as one of the largest iron works in ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Taunton, Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Ironworks and steel mills in the United States
Buildings and structures in Taunton, Massachusetts