Ashland Mill Tenement

Last updated
Ashland Mill Tenement
SouthbridgeMA AshlandMillTenement.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location141-145 Ashland Ave., Southbridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°3′55″N72°0′37″W / 42.06528°N 72.01028°W / 42.06528; -72.01028 Coordinates: 42°3′55″N72°0′37″W / 42.06528°N 72.01028°W / 42.06528; -72.01028
Arealess than one acre
Built1835 (1835)
Architectural styleUtilitarian
MPS Southbridge MRA
NRHP reference No. 89000545 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 22, 1989

The Ashland Mill Tenement is a historic tenement at 141-145 Ashland Avenue in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built about 1835, this unassuming rowhouse is one of the oldest documented factory-related buildings in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1]

Contents

Description and history

The Ashland Mill Tenement is located east of downtown Southbridge, at the junction of Ashland Avenue and Sandersdale Road (Massachusetts Route 131). It is an architecturally unassuming two story wood-frame construction, with a gable roof and clapboarded exterior. It has three units of housing, arrayed townhouse-style; the south side of each unit is two bays wide, with a sash window and simply framed entry on the first floor, and a brick chimney on one side. A shed-roof dormer (apparently original to the building construction) provides additional space on the second floor to each unit. The north side facades have porches sheltering the unit entrances. [2]

The earliest known industrial use in the area of this building was a blacksmithy, which was operating in 1815. A cotton mill was established on nearby Lebanon Brook in 1834, and this tenement was probably soon afterward. It was apparently one of three such tenements built for the mill workers, and is the only surviving structure of that enterprise. In 1874, a printing operation was established on the brook, with this building probably providing housing for that business's workers. [2]

The first known examples of housing built for mill workers in Southbridge were built about 1815, but neither the buildings nor descriptions of them have survived. The only factory housing of similar vintage in Southbridge are brick buildings built c. 1837 for the Hamilton Woolen Mill, which has more elaborate Greek Revival styling. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Three-decker (house) Type of house

A three-decker or triple-decker, in the United States, is a three-story (triplex) apartment building. These buildings are typical of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment, and frequently, originally, extended families lived in two, or all three floors. Both stand-alone and semi-detached versions are common.

Mill Village Historic District (Williamstown, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Mill Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing a well-preserved 19th century mill village in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is located on Cole Avenue and other streets east of Cole and south of the Hoosac River, which provided the mill's power. The complex dates to the mid-19th century, and includes tenement houses, housing for supervisors and specialty personnel, as well as a surviving mill building. The village district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Brown Stocking Mill Historic District United States historic place

The Brown Stocking Mill Historic District in Ipswich, Massachusetts encompasses the mill building of Harry S. Brown's stocking-making factory, and associated mill worker housing Brown had built. Brown, a supervisor at the Ipswich Mills, established his company in 1906, constructed a factory on Brownville Avenue, and built a series of worker housing units on Brownville and several nearby streets. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. It includes properties at 24—32 Broadway Avenue, 3—41 Brownville Avenue, 10 Burleigh Avenue, 3—5 Burleigh Place, and 35—47 Topsfield Road.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (Southbridge, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, formerly the Evangelical Free Church, is a historic church building at 446 Hamilton Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1869 for a nominally non-denominational congregation of senior Hamilton Woolen Company employees, it has house an Episcopal congregation since 1921. The building is architecturally noted for its Romanesque and Gothic Revival features, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Windsor Court Historic District United States historic place

The Windsor Court Historic District is a residential historic district in Southbridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is a collection of five three-family residences located on Windsor Court and adjacent North Street that were built by the American Optical Company between 1915 and 1917 to provide worker housing. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Dani and Soldani Cabinet Makers and Wood Workers Factory United States historic place

The Dani and Soldani Cabinet Makers and Wood Workers Factory is a historic factory building at 484 Worcester Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1914, it is a good example of a small early-20th century factory, and is important for its association with both the locally significant optical industry, and its history of Italian immigration. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Lawton Place Historic District United States historic place

The Lawton Place Historic District is a historic district on Lawton Place between Amory Road and Jackson Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The district preserves some of the nation's oldest textile mill worker housing. The duplex houses located on the south side of Lawton Place were built c. 1815-17 by the Boston Manufacturing Company (BMC), the first mill to process textiles entirely under one roof. They were originally located at what is now the Waltham Common, and were moved to Lawton Place in 1889. On the north side stands a rowhouse that was built in 1889; it is the last instance of a type of row housing that was once commonly built for mill workers. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Building at 25–27 River Street United States historic place

The Building at 25–27 River Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, is one of two similar triple-deckers built during a housing boom related to the success of the nearby Hamilton Woolen Company. The relatively plain form of these buildings is in contrast to earlier, more ornate styles that preceded their construction. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Building at 29–31 River Street United States historic place

The Building at 29–31 River Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, is one of two once similar triple-deckers built during a housing boom related to the success of the nearby Hamilton Woolen Company. Of six such houses built in the 1910s and 1920s on River Street, only it and 25-27 River Street remain. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, since when its historic integrity has been compromised.

Building at 38–42 Worcester Street United States historic place

The Building at 38–42 Worcester Street is a historic six-unit triple decker in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built sometime between 1878 and 1898, it has features influenced by the area's then-growing French Canadian immigrant population, including its outside porches. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Building at 52 Main Street United States historic place

The Building at 52 Main Street is a historic triple decker residence in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built early in the 20th century, it is a good example of period worker housing with French Canadian immigrant design features. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Dunbar-Vinton House United States historic place

The Dunbar-Vinton House is a historic house at Hook and Hamilton Streets in Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA. Probably built in the early 19th century, it is locally unusual for its brick construction at that time, and may have been built as a district schoolhouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Hamilton Mill Brick House United States historic place

The Hamilton Mill Brick House is a historic house at 16 High Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built c. 1855 by the Hamilton Woolen Mill Company, it is one of a small number of brick company housing units to survive from that time. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1989.

Hamilton Mill-West Street Factory Housing United States historic place

The Hamilton Mill—West Street Factory Housing is a historic house at 45 West Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in the second quarter of the 19th century, it was a particularly architecturally elaborate example of a worker tenement house with Greek Revival elements, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989 for its architecture. It has since been resided, losing most of those features.

Hamilton Millwright–Agents House United States historic place

The Hamilton Millwright–Agent's House is a historic house at 757–761 Main Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built about 1840, it is a rare surviving house from the Hamilton Woolen Company's early period of worker house construction. It is also rare as a brick house of the period; they were not commonly built in Southbridge at the time. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District United States historic place

The Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District encompasses the well preserved "Big Mill" complex of the Hamilton Woolen Company, built in the mid 19th century. Located at the confluence of McKinstry Brook and the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts, the complex consists of a cluster of mill buildings and a rare collection of 1830s brick mill worker housing units located nearby. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Judson–Litchfield House United States historic place

The Judson–Litchfield House is a historic house at 313 South Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built sometime in the 1830s, it is a well-preserved local example of brick Greek Revival architecture, of which there are few surviving examples in the city. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Maple Street Historic District (Southbridge, Massachusetts) United States historic place

The Maple Street Historic District consists of a cluster of ten similar worker cottages on Maple Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. They were built as part of an effort by the locally important American Optical Company to improve the quality of its worker housing in the 1910s. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

District D United States historic place

District D is a historic worker housing district located in Manchester, New Hampshire, near the former Amoskeag Manufacturing Company millyard. It is roughly bounded by Canal, Langdon, Elm, and West Brook streets, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 12, 1982. It contains three residential buildings constructed in 1864 in an area of about 3 acres (1 ha).

Building at 143 Highland Avenue United States historic place

143 Highland Avenue is a well-preserved late 19th-century tenement house in the town of Hardwick, Vermont. It was built about 1889 to serve as housing for workers in the area's granite quarries, and preserves a number of the utilitarian features that characterize these types of worker housing. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "MACRIS inventory record for Ashland Mill Tenement". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-26.