Mill Town
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A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles.


Europe


Italy

* '' Crespi d'Adda'',
UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
* ''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 c ...
* ''Villaggio Leumann'' a Collegno * ''Villaggio Frua'' in
Saronno Saronno (; ) is a ''comune'' of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Varese. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1960. With an estimated population of inhabitants, it is the most densely populated among the big m ...
* ''Villaggio operaio della Filatura'' in Tollegno


Poland


Żyrardów

The town grew out of a textile factory founded in 1833 by the sons of Feliks Lubienski, 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 Philippe Henri de Girard (February 1, 1775 – August 26, 1845) was a French engineer and inventor of the first flax spinning frame in 1810, and the person after whom the town of Żyrardów in Poland was named. He was also the uncredited inventor ...
from Lourmarin. 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 extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. 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 towns of
northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
and the
Scottish Lowlands The Lowlands ( or , ; , ) is a cultural and historical region of Scotland. The region is characterised by its relatively flat or gently rolling terrain as opposed to the mountainous landscapes of the Scottish Highlands. This area includes ci ...
, particularly those in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
(cotton) and
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
(
wool Wool is the textile fiber 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 some properties similar to animal w ...
). Some former mill towns have a symbol of the
textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...
in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g.
Colne Colne () is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. The town is northeast of Nelson, Lancashire, Nelson, northeast of Burnley and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The ...
) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School). 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 town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...
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, Staffor ...
in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.
In thousands of spindles.
On his tour of
northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...
in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said: The term mill town was revived in the British media during the debate over relations between whites and Asians in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns in the early 2000s, including the 2001 Oldham riots and 2001 Bradford riots. Nick Cohen
Fist in the kid glove
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
, 1 July 2001
Andrew Norfolk
July suicide bomber 'is an invisible poster boy'
''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', April 28, 2006
It's time to stand up
''
UNISON Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...
'', 17 April 2003 The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the
Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of highland, uplands mainly located in Northern England. Commonly described as the "Vertebral column, backbone of England" because of its length and position, the ra ...
that suffer from sometimes significant racial tension. Some mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns" because of the large number of British Pakistani Muslims who live there. After the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, thousands of migrants from both the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they moved to traditional working-class areas whilst the white working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war.The Arrival of the Asian Population
''Cotton Town: Your Town, Your History''


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 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 ...
in the early to mid-19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as a
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
, 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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy. File:Assawaga Mill postcard.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:Grade crossing arch at Mill Street - postcard.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 A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
* Industrial district * Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor * Old Great Falls Historic District, Paterson, NJ


Notes


References

{{reflist Company towns Industrial Revolution History of the textile industry Communities by industry