The Rising Paper Mill is a historic factory at 295 Park Street North, in the
Housatonic village of
Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Built in 1873 for H.D. Cone, it is one of the best-preserved examples of period mill architecture in
Berkshire County
Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded in ...
. The complex was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
In 2008, the facility was purchased by
Hazen Paper, which announced plans to manufacture multi-ply laminated paper for packaging.
Hazen Paper Reopens Housatonic Mill
iBerkshires.com, October 28, 2008
Description and history
The Rising Paper Mill is located south of the village of Housatonic, on the east bank of the Housatonic River
The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...
near the junction of Massachusetts Route 183
Massachusetts Route 183 (MA 183) is a north–south state highway in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The entire route travels from a continuation of Connecticut Route 183 by Colebrook, Connecticut to U.S. Route 7 (US 7) and US 20 in Len ...
(Park Street) and Mountain Road. The complex covers about , with significant frontage on both the river and the road. The facility's dam is located near the north end of the property. It consists of two long three-story brick buildings, which are joined near their centers by a narrower section. The north block is and 21 bays in length, while the south block is and 14 bays in length. The buildings are covered by mansarded slate roofs, and have elaborate mansarded towers at the corners. The corners are finished with rusticated granite quoining, and there are bands of decorative Greek crosses below the eaves.Monument Mountain Monument Mountain may refer to several summits in the United States, including:
*Monument Mountain (Berkshire County, Massachusetts)
** Monument Mountain (reservation), an open space preserve
*Monument Mountain, an underground mountain located in ...
. The design of the building placed the key Foudrinier machines in the hyphen joining the two main structures, one of which was devoted to the preparation of materials, and the other to finishing the paper.[
The mill was not entirely finished by Cone, who went bankrupt soon after its construction due to a variety financial reverses. It sat vacant until the turn of the 20th century, when it was purchased by the B.D. Rising Company, which used it to make paper. The Rising Mill became the area's largest employer after the nearby ]Monument Mills
Monument Mills are historic textile mills at Park and Front Streets in the Housatonic village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Developed beginning in the mid-19th century, they were a major American producer of jacquard fabrics, operating unt ...
failed in the 1930s.[
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Pulp and paper companies of the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts