Olde Woolen Mill

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North Berwick Woolen Mill
Olde Woolen Mill, North Berwick 2.jpg
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Location Canal St., North Berwick, Maine
Coordinates 43°18′16″N70°44′15″W / 43.30444°N 70.73750°W / 43.30444; -70.73750 Coordinates: 43°18′16″N70°44′15″W / 43.30444°N 70.73750°W / 43.30444; -70.73750
Area 1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built 1862 (1862)
Architectural style Mid 19th Century Revival, Late Victorian
NRHP reference # 83000482 [1]
Added to NRHP July 21, 1983

The Olde Woolen Mill (also known as the North Berwick Woolen Mill) is a historic mill complex at Canal Street, on the Great Works River in the center of North Berwick, Maine. Built in 1862, it is the only major mill complex in the Berwick region of York County. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1]

Great Works River river in United States of America

The Great Works River is a 30.6-mile-long (49.2 km) river in southwestern Maine in the United States. It rises in central York County and flows generally south past North Berwick to meet the tidal part of the Salmon Falls River at South Berwick.

North Berwick, Maine Town in Maine, United States

North Berwick is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The town was set off from Berwick in 1831, following South Berwick in 1814.

York County, Maine County in the United States

York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire by the Salmon Falls River, and the connected tidal estuary—the Piscataqua River.

Contents

Description and history

The mill is located between Canal Street and the Great Works River, just south of Wells Street (Maine State Route 9) in the village center of North Berwick. The associated mill pond is located just north of Wells Street. The mill complex is a somewhat typical 19th century New England mill complex, with a large rectangular main building, with a series of attached wings. The complex exhibits an eclectic mixture of architectural detailing, including elements of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Colonial Revival styling. [2]

Maine State Route 9 highway in Maine

State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of 289 miles (465 km).

One of the oldest steam engines in the U.S. is connected to this smokestack. Olde Woolen Mill Smokestack.jpg
One of the oldest steam engines in the U.S. is connected to this smokestack.

An earlier wooden mill built on the site in 1832 was destroyed by fire, and the existing brick structure built in 1862. [2] Primarily owned by Quakers, the mill, one of the first to automate the manufacture of blankets, produced uniforms and blankets for Union soldiers during the American Civil War. [2] At its foundation level has been preserved one of the earliest steam engines in the United States, and the only one of its kind to survive.

Brick Block or a single unit of a ceramic material used in masonry construction

A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term brick referred to a unit composed of clay, but it is now used to denote any rectangular units laid in mortar. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, or concrete materials. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks.

Quakers family of religious movements

Quakers, also called Friends, are a historically Christian group of religious movements formally known as the Religious Society of Friends, Society of Friends or Friends Church. Members of the various Quaker movements are all generally united in a belief in the ability of each human being to experientially access "the light within", or "that of God in every one".

Union Army Land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States of America as a working, viable republic.

The mill closed in 1955 and remained mostly unused for nearly 40 years, when it served as the site of the Parrish Shoe Factory in the 1995 fantasy movie Jumanji . In 2009 the structure was renovated into a senior housing site by the Caleb Group, a nonprofit housing organization of New England. It was the first property to be awarded a tax credit under the Maine State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit Act of 2008.

<i>Jumanji</i> 1995 film by Joe Johnston

Jumanji is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston. It is an adaptation of the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. The film was written by Van Allsburg, Greg Taylor, Jonathan Hensleigh, and Jim Strain and stars Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Neuwirth, and David Alan Grier.

New England Region of the United States

New England is a region composed of six states of the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Boston is New England's largest city as well as the capital of Massachusetts. The largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston with nearly a third of the entire region's population, which also includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for North Berwick Woolen Mill". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
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