Norad Mill | |
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Location | 60 Roberts Dr., North Adams, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°41′55″N73°8′20″W / 42.69861°N 73.13889°W |
Area | 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) |
Built | 1863 |
Architectural style | Italianate |
MPS | North Adams MRA |
NRHP reference No. | 85003417 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 25, 1985 |
The Norad Mill is a historic mill located in Braytonville, North Adams, Massachusetts. It is the oldest mill complex in North Adams that has not had its exterior significantly altered, making visible much of its Italianate styling.
In 1831 the land, owned by Luke Brown, had been purchased for $520 by William E. and Thomas A. Brayton, and in 1832 a stone mill 40 x 74 feet, three stories high, with an attic was constructed. Larger print cloths, 52 by 52 feet were manufactured on twenty looms under the name of T.A. Brayton & Co.. The factory village, known as Braytonville, grew around the new mill and was briefly named Deweyville, after Daniel Dewey, in 1863 and until his retirement in 1868. [2]
The Norad Mill was built in 1863 by Sanford Blackinton, one of North Adams' leading mill owners, and Daniel Dewey, the prime mover in forming the North Adams Woolen Company. Blackinton used the mill to produce woolen goods that were in high demand during the American Civil War. The business was reorganized as the North Adams Manufacturing Company in 1878, with H.G.B.Fisher taking over as President and E.B. Penniman as Treasurer and Agent. At that time the works had fifty looms, employing 275 hands and turned out 20,000 yards of six-quarter fancy cassimeres per month. [3]
The mill continued to be the site of woolen textile production, under a variety of corporate names, until 1947. In 1954 the Excelsior Printing Company began operations in the facility; it was acquired by Crane & Co., which (as of the 1985 National Register nomination), continued to operate that business under its original name. In 2005 the business and mill complex were purchased by Crane family member David Crane. In 2016 the printing business was sold to Integrity Graphics which has consolidated operations elsewhere. The mill complex includes, in addition to the main mill building, several 19th century extensions and a storehouse erected in 1904. [4] The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. [1]
The mill is located one mile west of downtown North Adams, on the north bank of the Hoosic River at the northeast corner of Roberts Drive and the Mohawk Trail (Massachusetts Route 2). The main mill building is a three-story brick structure, to which a number of smaller additions have been made. The largest scale addition to the building was an 1898 enlargement of the main structure, which maintained the roofline of the original 1863 building, while using more modern curtain wall construction methods. [4]
The building has been purchased and partly renovated by commercial landlord Moresi and Associates. New tenants as of 2018 include a yarn company, a wine tasting room and a coffee roastery.
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contemporary art museum in the United States, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams has in recent years become a center for tourism, culture and recreation.
Luke Taft was an industrial pioneer in the manufacture of woolens in 19th century New England.
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The Blackinton Historic District is a historic district in the western part of North Adams, Massachusetts, roughly along Massachusetts Avenue between Ashton and Doanes Avenues and Church Hill and the Boston & Maine Railroad. The district, which encompasses North Adams' best preserved mill village, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
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The Monument Square–Eagle Street Historic District is a historic district encompassing the civic heart of North Adams, Massachusetts. When it was originally designated in 1972, the district encompassed Monument Square – west of the intersection of Main Street and Church Street, and the location of a Civil War memorial – and the area around it. This designation included the North Adams Public Library, the First Baptist Church and First Congregational Church, and a block of shops Eagle Street. In 1988, the district's boundaries were increased to be roughly bounded by Holden, Center and Union Streets, the East Middle School, Summer Street, and Main Street. This expansion extended the district westward along Summer Street to include the US Post Office building and St. John's Church, and eastward to include Colgrove Park, the middle school, and St. Francis Catholic Church. An additional block of commercial buildings was also added on the north side of West Main Street, extending just west of Holden Street.
Phillips Woolen Mill is a historic mill at 71 Grove Street in Adams, Massachusetts. With a construction history dating to the mid-19th century, it is a good example of small textile mill complex of that period, containing elements that date from the 1920s potentially back as far as the 1830s. The mill complex was added to the National Historic Register in 1982.
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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.
Stanley Woolen Mill is the common historic name applied to a defunct company based in southeastern Massachusetts and to the company's buildings which stand at the southern entrance to the Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park. The mill is an important footnote in the history of the textile industry in America. Stanley Woolen Mill is the centerpiece of the Central Woolen Mills District which is part of the National Historic Register.
The Faribault Woolen Mill Company is a textile manufacturing company in Faribault, Minnesota, United States, that produces and sells wool blankets and other woolen products. Its products included ingeo, cotton, acrylic and wool bed blankets, pillows, mattresses, pads, and baby blankets, and wool, ingeo and blend throws. The company sells its products through its store in Faribault and nationwide through retailers.
The Winthrop Mills Company is a historic textile mill complex at 149-151 Main Street in Winthrop, Maine. Developed mainly between the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, it was the nation's largest manufacturer of woolen blankets for many years, and a major local employer for about 150 years. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Edwin Thayer Barlow was an architect with Carrère and Hastings in New York City and at his own architectural practice in North Adams, Massachusetts. He designed a couple of buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as renovating one that is a contributing property to the Blackinton Historic District. He also designed several school buildings.
In 1831 the land, owned by Luke Brown, had been purchased for $520 by William E. and Thomas A. Brayton. In 1832 a stone mill 40 x 74 feet, three stories high, with an attic was constructed allowing for larger print cloths, 52 by 52 feet to be manufactured on twenty looms under the name of T.A. Brayton & Co.. The factory village that grew around the mill became known as Braytonville. Sanford Blackinton, one of North Adams' leading mill owners, and Daniel Dewey, the prime mover in forming the North Adams Woolen Company, constructed the replacement Norad Mill in 1863. The village was briefly named Deweyville, after Daniel Dewey, in 1863 until his retirement in 1868.
The Reedsburg Woolen Mill was a historic woolen mill along the Baraboo River in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. The woolen mill was the largest employer in Reedsburg for much of its life, employing over 200 people. The woolen mill was built in 1891 and lasted until 1968, when most of it burned down, leaving the office building intact. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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