Clover Leaf Mills (or formerly known as Seaconnet Mills) is a historic cotton
textile mill
Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...
complex located at 1 & 21 Father DeValles Boulevard in
Fall River, Massachusetts
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 ...
. Begun in 1884, the mill is a good example of 1880s industrial architecture. 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 ...
in 1983.
Description
Clover Leaf Mills complex is located in an isolated but highly visible setting southeast of the western interchange between
Interstate 195 and
Massachusetts Route 24
Route 24 is a freeway south of Interstate 93 (I-93) in southeastern Massachusetts, linking Fall River with the Boston metropolitan area. It begins in the south in Fall River at the border with Tiverton, Rhode Island where it connects with Rh ...
in eastern Fall River. It includes two large stone buildings (the main spinning mill and the weave shed), joined by a narrow hyphen, with a cluster of ancillary buildings attached to the west side of the spinning mill. The spinning mill is a long rectangular four-story building with an exterior of rustically dressed granite blocks, and is oriented north–south. The weave shed is two stories in height, and is oriented east–west. The cluster of outbuildings include a boiler house, picker house, and a brick chimney.
History
Mill No. 1 (the spinning mill) was built in 1884, while Mill No. 2 (the weave shed) was built in the 1890s. Henry C. Lincoln was the first president of the company, which had a peak capacity of 72,000 spindles. In October 1889, the very first operational trial of the
Draper Northrop automatic loom was made at the Seaconnet Mills. Further trials and improvements to the Northrop loom were made over the next year or so. In the following decades, the Northrop automatic loom would revolutionize the weaving industry, allowing a single operator to manage multiple looms at the same time.
In 1930 the Seaconnett Mills were taken over by the Howard-Arthur Company.
Phillips History of Fall River
/ref> In 2001, the name of Seaconnett Mills was changed to Clover Leaf Mills for its centered position within the location of the highway interchange. The mill site has been recently restored into an office park.
See also
*
*List of mills in Fall River, Massachusetts
The city of Fall River, Massachusetts once had over 120 cotton textile mills and was the leading cotton textile center in the United States during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
There are currently about 65 historic textile mills rem ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Textile mills in Fall River, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Fall River, Massachusetts