Granite Mills are two 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 good ...

s located on Bedford Street in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...

, consisting of Granite Mill No. 2 and Granite Mill No. 3. The site was determined eligible to be listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983, but was omitted due to owner's objection. The mills were organized in 1863 with William Mason as president and Charles O. Shove as treasurer. The original Mill No. 1 was built 1864. It was long by wide and five stories high with a barn roof. The mill did not begin operation until January 1865, however. Mill No. 1 was destroyed by fire on September 19, 1874. Twenty three workers were killed in the disaster, and thirty three more were injured. Workers on the upper floors faced a desperate choice, either jump five stories to the ground, or be burned to death. The Granite Mill fire was widely publicized in the press and became the subject of several folk songs found throughout

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, as well as

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, where many of the workers came from. The scandal led to reforms in the design of future mill buildings, requiring multiple exits and fire escapes. Mill No. 1 was soon rebuilt, but with a flat roof and a fire sprinkler system. The rebuilt Mill No. 1 was powered by a 650-horsepower

Corliss engine A Corliss steam engine (or Corliss engine) is a steam engine, fitted with rotary valves and with variable valve timing patented in 1849, invented by and named after the US engineer George Henry Corliss of Providence, Rhode Island. Corliss assumed ...

, fed by twenty four boilers. Mill No. 2 was constructed in 1871 at the corner of Bedford Street and Robeson, from local

Fall River granite Fall River granite is a Precambrian bedrock underlying the City of Fall River, Massachusetts and surrounding areas along the eastern shores of Narragansett Bay. It was formed 600 million years ago, as part of the Avalon terrane. During the 19th ...

in the Italianate style. It is long by wide. Originally five stories with a barn roof. The sixth floor was flattened to a full story after the tragic 1874 fire in Mill No.1, due to safety concerns. This mill was powered by a 750-horsepower

. Water for the steam-powered mills was drawn through a canal from the

Quequechan River The Quequechan River is a river in Fall River, Massachusetts, that flows in a northwesterly direction from the northwest corner of the South Watuppa Pond through the heart of the city of Fall River and into the end of the Taunton River at ...

. Mill No. 3 was built in 1893, also in granite, but wider and with less ornamentation. It measured long by wide. The front half of the mill is two stories, while the rear part is three stories. The company also built nearly one hundred

triple decker A three-decker is the U.S. term for a type of vertical triplex apartment building. These detached three-story buildings are typically of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment. Both stand-al ...

tenement houses nearby for the accommodation of its workers. By 1917, the company had a capacity of 122,048 spindles and 3,000 looms. In 1932 the Granite Mills were acquired by the Pepperell Manufacturing Company, and continued to operate into the 1950s. Mill No. 1 was demolished in 1961 for a supermarket, which later became China Royal restaurant. The site now contains various businesses, including a CVS, Boston Market and a bank. From 1959, Mill No. 2 was the home of suit maker Anderson-Little until it closed in 1998. The building is now occupied by various businesses. Mill No. 3 was for many years occupied by Globe Manufacturing, which manufactured rubber-based goods, including

Spandex Spandex, Lycra, or elastane is a synthetic fiber known for its exceptional elasticity. It is a polyether- polyurea copolymer that was invented in 1958 by chemist Joseph Shivers at DuPont. Name The name ''spandex'', which is an anagram of t ...

. On July 28, 2011 a smoldering fire start by a spark from a torch during remodeling of the building damaged some of the floor and caused about 10,000 dollars in damage. This mills now contains the Granite Block Global Data Center.Fall River Herald News, May 30, 2011
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References

{{Coord, 41.7013, -71.1463, display=title Industrial buildings completed in 1871 Industrial buildings completed in 1893 Textile mills in Fall River, Massachusetts 1871 establishments in Massachusetts 1893 establishments in Massachusetts

See also

References