King Philip Mills is an historic
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Although some were driven b ...
complex located at 372 Kilburn 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 ...
. Developed between 1871 and 1892, it was historically one of the city's largest mills, and its building inventory is still largely complete. The complex 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 and history
The King Philip Mill complex is located in southern Fall River, on the northwest shore of Cook Pond. The complex is bounded on the north by Dwelly Street and the west by Kilburn Street. It consists of more than twelve interconnected buildings. Three of the large main mill buildings are built of locally quarried granite, with the 4-5 story Mills 1 and 2 joined by a picker house to form a structure with a unified facade in length; this is the longest such building in the city.
The King Philip Mill was organized with $500,000 in capital in 1871 and Mill No. 1 was built the same year. In 1881, capital was increased to $1,000,000 and Mill No. 2 was built. Mill No. 3 was added in 1888 for weaving. Mill No. 4 was built in 1892. The architectural design for the buildings was by William F. Sherman and F.P. Sheldon; the latter was a prominent mill designer from
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
.
[ By 1917 the company had a capacity of 134,000 spindles and 3,000 looms. In 1930 the company was acquired by Berkshire Fine Spinning Associates which later became ]Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float (the retained premiu ...
. Textile production ended on May 8, 1964, and the complex was used by a variety of light industrial concerns.[
On the morning of January 3, 2012, the former office building of the mills was destroyed by arson.
]
Demolition
The 750,000 square foot mill property was bought by developer Robert Kfoury in 2018, with plans to builds single-family homes there. Demolition of the mill complex began on May 29, 2018. All but one building will be demolished.King Philip Mill demolition begins
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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
Cotton mills in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Fall River, Massachusetts
Berkshire Hathaway
Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures demolished in 2012