The Olde Woolen Mill (also known as the North Berwick Woolen Mill) is a historic mill complex at Canal Street, on the

Great Works River The Great Works River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river in southwestern Maine in the United States. It rises in central York County and flows gen ...

in the center of

North Berwick, Maine North Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The town was set off from Berwick in 1831, following South Berwick in 1814. North Berwick's population was 4,978 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portlan ...

. Built in 1862, it is the only major mill complex in the Berwick region of York County. It 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 ...

in 1983.

Description and history

The mill is located between Canal Street and the Great Works River, just south of Wells Street (

Maine State Route 9 State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of . Route description Sta ...

) in the village center of North Berwick. The associated mill pond is located just north of Wells Street. The mill complex is a somewhat typical 19th century New England mill complex, with a large rectangular main building, with a series of attached wings. The complex exhibits an eclectic mixture of architectural detailing, including elements of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Colonial Revival styling. Olde Woolen Mill Smokestack

An earlier wooden mill built on the site in 1832 was destroyed by fire, and the existing

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

structure built in 1862. Primarily owned by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

, the mill, one of the first to automate the manufacture of blankets, produced uniforms and blankets for

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

soldiers during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. At its foundation level has been preserved one of the earliest

steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and the only one of its kind to survive. The mill closed in 1955 and remained mostly unused for nearly 40 years, when it served as the site of the Parrish Shoe Factory in the 1995 fantasy movie '' Jumanji''. In 2009 the structure was renovated into a

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 ...

site by the Caleb Group, a nonprofit housing organization of

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 ...

. It was the first property to be awarded a tax credit under the Maine State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Act of 2008.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Olde Woolen Mill
Official web page for The Olde Woolen Mill

"Old North Berwick mill now affordable housing for older residents" by Jason Claffey, in ''Foster's Daily Democrat'' (27 October 2009)

"Old Maine mill gets new lease on life" by Deborah McDermott in ''Seacoastonline.com'' (30 August 2009)

Historical sites in or around North Berwick, Maine, in ''The Maine Encyclopedia''
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Georgian architecture in Maine Victorian architecture in Maine Buildings and structures completed in 1862 Buildings and structures in York County, Maine North Berwick, Maine Textile mills in Maine 1862 establishments in Maine National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine Woollen mills

Description and history

See also

References

External links