Wampanoag Mills
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Wampanoag Mills is a historic
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 420 Quequechan Street 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 ...
. Built beginning in 1871, it is a large and well-preserved example of granite textile mill construction. 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 1983.


Description

The Wampanoag Mills are prominently situated at the corner of Quequechan and Alden Streets in central Fall River. Its buildings are located just northwest of the western junction of 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 Rho ...
, with the two five-story main mill buildings highly visible from those roads. The complex has a large number of buildings, many attached to or part of the main buildings. The western building includes Mill Number 1 and the weave shed, while the eastern building consists of Mill Number 2 with a number of smaller attachments. Between the two there are two small storage buildings, one granite and the other wood-frame.


History

The Wampanoag Mills company was formed in 1871 for the manufacture of cotton textiles. Mill No. 1 was built on Quequechan Street in 1872 from native Fall River granite. Mill No. 2 was constructed in 1877, with access from Alden Street, increasing total capacity to 45,500 spindles. The mills were steam-powered. An attached two-story weave shed was also added to Mill No. 1. The mills closed in 1929. In the 1980s, Mill No. 1 became part of the Fall River factory outlet district, and contained numerous small retail shops. This mill has since been renovated into senior apartments. A cultural center remains within the former weave shed attached to the north end of Mill No. 1. Mill No. 2 formerly contained Fall River Knitting Mills (later known as Northeast Knitting Mills). On the evening of April 16, 2010, a fire of suspicious origin broke out in a storage building next to the mills, formerly occupied by Parker's Candies.Herald News - Wamanoag Mill fully engulfed in fire
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See also

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National Register of Historic Places listings in Fall River, Massachusetts The following properties in Fall River, Massachusetts are listed on the Registered Historic Places. This is a subset of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Bristol County, Massachusetts. ...
*
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