The Nashua Manufacturing Company was a cotton textile manufacturer in Nashua, New Hampshire, that operated from 1823 to 1945. It was one of several textile companies that helped create what became the city of Nashua, creating roads, churches and its own bank as part of the process. Like most New England textile mills it struggled during the Depression. It shut in 1947, when much of the industry had moved South for cheaper labor and land. [1]
Nashua was one of several towns that was established along the Merrimack River to take advantage of water power in the early days of the Industrial Revolution. [2] The most notable mills were the Merrimack mills (founded 1823) in Lowell, Massachusetts, [3] and the Amoskeag mills (founded 1810) at Manchester, New Hampshire, [4] where the Millyard Museum is located. [5]
The Nashua Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1823 on the initiative of Daniel Abbot. [6] [7] Abbot is considered the "father of Nashua", and he was part of the town when it was renamed from Dunstable, New Hampshire, to Nashua in 1837. [7] [8] He and other citizens began the company after buying up land from the banks of the Merrimack along the Nashua River up to Mine Falls, as they planned to use the falls to power their mills. [9] They hired Asher Benjamin to design the mills, including churches and a grid of streets. [10] [11] The company helped fund the digging of the Nashua power canal. [12] After the canal was complete, the company built more mill buildings and hired more labor, likely helping the town's population rise from 1,142 to 2,417 in the years 1820-1830. [9] [11] [13]
In 1835, one of the founders of the company also founded the Nashua Bank, later known as the Indian Head Bank, which used its own currency. [14] The Nashua Manufacturing Company was larger than other mills built during this time and during the 19th and early 20th centuries, bought several other textile manufacturers, including Jackson Company, Indian Head Mills, and Tremont and Suffolk Mills. [15] The company owned the largest contiguous portion of these properties encompassing 400 acres and is now protected as Mine Falls Park and the Nashua Manufacturing Company Historic District. [16] [17]
It was acquired by Textron Inc. in 1945. In 1947, Textron liquidated the mill, throwing some 2,000 people out of work when the city had a population of about 25,000. [18] [19] [20]
Six of the mill buildings along the Nashua River were converted into apartments in the early 2000s and are now known as Clocktower Place Apartments. [21] [22]
Hollis is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,342 at the 2020 census, growing 9% from the 2010 population of 7,684. The town center village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Hollis Village Historic District.
Litchfield is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 8,478 at the 2020 census.
Manchester is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire and in northern New England. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 115,644.
Merrimack is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 26,632 as of the 2020 census.
Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. Along with Manchester, it is a seat of New Hampshire's most populous county, Hillsborough.
The Merrimack River is a 117-mile-long (188 km) river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Gulf of Maine at Newburyport. From Pawtucket Falls in Lowell, Massachusetts, onward, the Massachusetts–New Hampshire border is roughly calculated as the line three miles north of the river.
Greenville is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,974 at the 2020 census, down from 2,105 at the 2010 census. It is located at the junctions of New Hampshire routes 31, 45, and 123.
Newmarket is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 9,430 at the 2020 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire in Durham.
Hudson is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is located along the Massachusetts state line. The population was 25,394 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-largest municipality in the state, by population.
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.
Dunstable, New Hampshire was a town located in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. It has been divided into several current cities and towns, including Nashua, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimack.
The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company was a textile manufacturer which founded Manchester, New Hampshire, United States. From modest beginnings it grew throughout the 19th century into the largest cotton textile plant in the world. At its peak, Amoskeag had 17,000 employees and around 30 buildings.
The American Woolen Company is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of men’s and women’s worsted and woolen fabrics. Based in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, the company operates from the 160-year-old Warren Mills, which it acquired from Loro Piana SpA in June 2014.
The history of Lowell, Massachusetts, is closely tied to its location along the Pawtucket Falls of the Merrimack River, from being an important fishing ground for the Pennacook tribe to providing water power for the factories that formed the basis of the city's economy for a century. The city of Lowell was started in the 1820s as a money-making venture and social project referred to as "The Lowell Experiment", and quickly became the United States' largest textile center. However, within approximately a century, the decline and collapse of that industry in New England placed the city into a deep recession. Lowell's "rebirth", partially tied to Lowell National Historical Park, has made it a model for other former industrial towns, although the city continues to struggle with deindustrialization and suburbanization.
The Mine Falls Gatehouse is a dam gatehouse in Mine Falls Park in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was built in 1886 by the Nashua Manufacturing Company to regulate water flow from the mill yard. The company relied on water flow to provide power to its mill. In 1987 the gatehouse was included in the Nashua Manufacturing Company Historic District and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property.
Mill Conversion or mill rehab is a form of adaptive reuse in which a historic mill or industrial factory building is restored or rehabilitated into another use, such as residential housing, retail shops, office, or a mix of these non-industrial elements (mixed-use).
The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those living along it for millennia.
The Nashua Manufacturing Company Historic District in Nashua, New Hampshire, is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1987. It encompasses an area just west of downtown Nashua, roughly located along the southern bank of the Nashua River, bordered on the west side by Mine Falls Park, on the south side by the Nashua River canal, up to Ledge Street, and from the east side by Factory, Pine and Water streets, up to the Main Street bridge.