A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more
mills or factories, usually
cotton mills or factories producing textiles.
Europe
Italy
* ''
Crespi d'Adda'',
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
* ''Nuovo quartiere operaio'' in
Schio
Schio is a town and comune in the province of Vicenza (region of Veneto, northern Italy) situated north of Vicenza and east of the Lake Garda. It is surrounded by the Little Dolomites (Italian Prealps) and Mount Pasubio.
History
Its name comes ...
* ''Villaggio Leumann'' a
Collegno
* ''Villaggio Frua'' in
Saronno
* ''Villaggio operaio della Filatura'' in
Tollegno
Tollegno is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northwest of Biella. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,678 and an area of .All demographic ...
Poland
Żyrardów
The town grew out of a textile factory founded in 1833 by the sons of
Feliks Lubienski
Feliks is a variant spelling of the given name Felix, used in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as in the transliteration of the name Felix from Russian.
Feliks may refer to:
* Feliks Ankerstein (1897–1955), Polish Army major and intellig ...
, who owned the land where it was built. They brought in a specialist from France and his newly designed machines. He was French inventor,
Philippe de Girard from
Lourmarin
Lourmarin (; oc, Lormarin) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Lourmarinois''.
Geography
Lourmarin is located in the French region of Provence, a ...
. He became a director of the firm. The factory town developed during the 19th century into a significant
textile mill town in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
.
In honour of Girard, 'Ruda Guzowska' as the original estate was called, was renamed
Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the
polonised spelling of Girard's name.
Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only entire urban industrial complex from the 19th-century to be preserved in Europe.
Russian Empire
*
Bogorodsk-Glukhovo factory
*
Nikolskoye, Vladimir Governorate
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" usually refers to the 19th century
textile manufacturing
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 ...
towns of
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
and the
Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...
(cotton) and
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
(
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
).
Some former mill towns have a symbol of the
textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g.
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne ...
) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g.
Ossett School
Ossett Academy and Sixth Form College (formerly Ossett Grammar School) is the only secondary school, and also a Sixth form college, in Ossett, a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The school is an academy.
History
Founded in 1735 ...
).
The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry in
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...
and
Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
Places In England
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan
** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)
* Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Dorset
* Leigh, Gloucestershire
* Leigh, Kent
* Leigh, Staff ...
in Greater Manchester, and in
Ossett in Yorkshire.
In thousands of spindles.
On his tour of
northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...
in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:
North America
United States
New England and Northeast
Beginning with
Samuel Slater and technological information smuggled out of England by
Francis Cabot Lowell, large mills were established in
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 ...
in the early to mid 19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as a
company town, grew in the shadow of the industries. The region became a manufacturing powerhouse along rivers like the
Housatonic,
Quinebaug,
Shetucket,
Blackstone,
Merrimack,
Nashua,
Cocheco,
Saco,
Androscoggin,
Kennebec or
Winooski.
In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.
File:Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT.jpg, Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT, in 1909
File:American Thread Co. Mill.jpg, American Thread Co. Mill, Willimantic, CT, c. 1910
File:Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mills.jpg, Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, Waterville, ME, c. 1920
File:Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME.jpg, Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME, c. 1902
File:Mill Street, Attleboro, MA.jpg, Mill Street, Attleboro, MA, in 1908
File:Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA.jpg, Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA, in 1907
File:Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA.jpg, Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA, c. 1905
File:Noon Hour at Amoskeag Mills.jpg, Amoskeag Mills, Manchester, NH, c. 1912
File:Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH.jpg, Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH, in 1907
File:Alice Mills Rubber Mfg. Plant.jpg, Alice Mills, Woonsocket, RI, in 1911
File:Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT.jpg, Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT, in 1907
Midwest
South
File:ChadwickMills.jpg, Model Mill Settlement, Chadwick Mills, Charlotte, N.C. Published c. 1905–1915
File:WhiteOakMills.jpg, White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C. c. 1914
File:Wareshoalsmill.jpg, Aerial view of Ware Shoals Mill
Sawmill towns
South America
Colombia
*
San José de Suaita
See also
*
Company town
*
Industrial district
*
Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
*
Old Great Falls Historic District, Paterson, NJ
Notes
References
{{reflist
External links
Museums and historic sites
Belknap Mill Society Museum, Laconia, NHSlater Mill Historic Site, Pawtucket, RILowell National Historic Park, Lowell, MAQuinebaug & Shetucket Rivers Valley National Historic CorridorSouthern Textile Heritage Corridor, Vir, NC, SC, Ga, AlMuseum Lewiston-Auburn, Lewiston, ME
Company towns
Industrial Revolution
History of the textile industry
Communities by industry