Mill town

A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is a community that developed around one or more textile or other industrial mills, where the local economy centered on mill production and company owners typically provided housing, stores, schools, and other services to support workers and their families. Emerging prominently during the early 19th-century Industrial Revolution, mill towns harnessed water power from rivers to mechanize textile manufacturing, initially concentrating in New England before expanding southward, where they eclipsed northern production by the 1920s through lower labor costs and abundant resources. These towns featured a paternalistic social structure, with mill corporations exerting broad influence over daily life to ensure labor stability and productivity, fostering economic booms that built infrastructure but also vulnerability to market fluctuations, technological changes, and eventual deindustrialization.

Europe

Italy

Crespi d'Adda, UNESCO World Heritage Site Nuovo quartiere operaio in Schio Villaggio Leumann a Collegno Villaggio Frua in Saronno 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 from Lourmarin. He became a director of the firm.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Girard, Philippe Henri de". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. The factory town developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill town in Poland. 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 and the Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in Lancashire (cotton) and Yorkshire (wool).

Some former mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).

County TownsCheshire mill townsCongleton, Crewe, MacclesfieldDerbyshire mill townsGlossop, Hadfield, New MillsGreater Manchester mill townsAshton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Chadderton, Failsworth, Heywood, Hyde, Lees, Leigh, Manchester, Middleton, Oldham, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Reddish, Rochdale, Royton, Shaw and Crompton, Stalybridge, Stockport, WiganLancashire mill townsAccrington, Bacup, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Calder Vale, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Nelson, Oakenclough, Padiham, Preston for others see table below.Yorkshire mill townsBatley, Bingley, Bradford, Brighouse, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Keighley, Morley, Mytholmroyd, Ossett, Pudsey, Shipley, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Yeadon

The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.

+Spindleage of some large mill towns in and around Greater ManchesterSourced from a book entitled Cotton Mills of Greater Manchester, although not all of these towns are within Greater Manchester. between 1830 and 1962Date1883189319031913192319261933194419531962Accrington59043846766019171846928715292Ashton1,5741,7311,7811,95518981,144644633182Blackburn1,6711,3981,3211,2801,2241,071672451309103Bolton4,0864,7705,4576,7977,3717,8427,5076,2044,8861,772Burnley1,12673466756353850724018214414Bury87589983395510501000745630524268Chorley552527541856838837739491397122Farnworth5577799661,4851,4781,4841,3441,2371,104162Glossop1,1061,15896888282183952420415410Heywood6608878361,0701,1001,09686454553368Hyde59049953374179369647536633758Leigh1,3371,5141,6792,4452,7612,9252,8912,6152,336548Manchester2,4452,353,2,2253,7033,3073,4393,4172,9741,934271Middleton4984946451,2781,2681,2521,0411,193923161Mossley1,1531,2171,0331,2881,2971,289371264256-Oldham9,31111,15912,23016,90917,23117,66913,7328,9487,6212,478Preston2,1461,8832,0742,1611,9971,9651,5921,1461,024278Rochdale1,6271,8352,4223,6453,7493,7933,5392,4591,936983Stalybridge1,0831,1571,0271,2361,1041,103801483426122Stockport1,6011,7421,5682,2662,3821,9241,4271,141154Wigan8647758881,0851,1231,141922681575352

In thousands of spindles.

On his tour of northern England 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 and Bradford riots.Nick Cohen, Fist in the kid glove, The Guardian, 1 July 2001Andrew Norfolk, "July suicide bomber 'is an invisible poster boy'", The Times, April 28, 2006It's time to stand up, UNISON, 17 April 2003 The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines 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, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent 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 in the early to mid-19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as company towns, 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, and 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 acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.

State Towns Connecticut mill towns Ansonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Collinsville, Danbury, Derby, East Windsor, Enfield, Glastonbury, Griswold, Hartford, Killingly, Madison, Manchester, Mansfield, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Putnam, Redding, Sandy Hook, Seymour, Shelton, Torrington, Vernon, Waterbury, Willimantic, Winchester, Windham, Windsor Locks Maine mill towns Anson, Auburn, Augusta, Baileyville, Biddeford, Brunswick, Chisholm, Corinna, Lewiston, Lincoln, Lisbon Falls, Livermore Falls, Millinocket, Milo, Monmouth, Newport, Old Town, Orono, Pittsfield, Portland, Rumford, Saco, Sanford, Skowhegan, Waterville, Westbrook, Wilton Massachusetts mill towns Adams, Amesbury, Athol, Attleboro, Boston, Chicopee, Clinton, Dalton, Dedham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Grafton, Greenfield, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopesdale, Hudson, Lawrence, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Maynard, Medford, Merrimac, Methuen, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, North Adams, North Andover, Northbridge, Orange, Palmer, Peabody, Pittsfield, Rowley, Russell, Southbridge, Springfield, Taunton, Uxbridge, Waltham, Ware, Webster, Westborough, Winchendon, Worcester New Hampshire mill towns Belmont, Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, East Rochester, Franklin, Gonic, Gorham, Greenville, Groveton, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Keene, Laconia, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lincoln, Manchester, Milford, Milton, Nashua, Newmarket, Newport, Penacook, Pittsfield, Rochester, Rollinsford, Somersworth, Suncook, Tilton, Troy, Wilton New Jersey mill towns Allaire, Allentown, Bernards, Boonton, Butler, Camden, Chester, Clinton, Cranbury, Cranford, Dover, Dunellen, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Freehold, Griggstown, Helmetta, Hillsborough, Imlaystown, Jamesburg, Kearny, Kingston, Little Falls, Manalapan, Manville, Medford, Milltown, Millville, New Brunswick, Newark, Orange, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Prallsville, Rahway, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Scobeyville, Smithville, South Brunswick, Stillwater, Tinton Falls, Trenton, Walnford, Wharton, Woodbridge New York mill towns Albany, Amsterdam, Aurora-on-Cayuga, Beacon, Belmont, Bloomvale, Buffalo, Clinton, Cohoes, Cold Spring, Corning, Dumbo, Gardiner, Gloversville, Ithaca, Johnstown, Kingston, Little Falls, Marlboro, Mechanicville, Middletown, Montgomery, New Berlin, New York Mills, Newburgh, Newcomb, Niles, Philmont, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Rome, Roslyn, Saddle Rock, Schenectady, Schuylerville, Seneca Falls, Sleepy Hollow, Stony Brook, Sunset Park, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Victory, Water Mill Rhode Island mill towns Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Coventry, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence, Slatersville, Valley Falls, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket Vermont mill towns Bellows Falls, Bethel, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Burlington, Ludlow, Newport, Springfield, Vergennes, Winooski

Midwest State Towns Wisconsin mill towns Biron (Biron Mill)

South State Towns Alabama mill towns Fairfax (Fairfax Mill and Fair View Mill), Lanett (Lanett Mill), Langdale (Langdale Mill), Sylacauga (Avondale Mill), Opelika (Opelika Mill), River View (Riverdale Mill), Shawmut (Shawmut Mill), Valley (Carter/Lanier Mill) Arkansas mill towns Amity, Beirne, Calion, Crossett, Delight, Dierks, Glenwood, Jones Mill, Leola, Malvern, Mountain PineGeorgia mill townsBibb City, Cabbagetown, Chicopee, Hogansville, New Holland, New ManchesterMaryland mill towns Ellicott City, Jerusalem, Oella, Owings Mills, Savage North Carolina mill towns Alamance, Altamahaw, Bellemont, Burlington, Bynum, Canton, Caroleen, Carolina, Carrboro, Cliffside, Coleridge, Concord, Cooleemee, Cramerton, Drexel, Eden, Edgemont (East Durham), Enka, Falls, Franklinville, Glen Raven, Glencoe, Hanes, Haw River, Henrietta, High Falls, High Shoals, Hildebran, Hope Mills, Kannapolis, Long Shoals, Mayodan, McAdenville, Mooresville, Mount Holly, Oakdale, Ramseur, Rhodhiss, Riegelwood, Roanoke Rapids, Sawmills, Saxapahaw, Spencer Mountain, Swepsonville, West Durham, West Hillsborough South Carolina mill towns Cateechee, Central, Cherokee Falls, Columbia (Olympia and Granby Mills), Fort Mill, Glendale, Graniteville, Great Falls, Inman, Joanna, La France, Lockhart, Lyman, Newry, Pacolet Mills, Pelzer, Piedmont, Slater-Marietta, Startex, Ware Shoals, Watts Mills, Whitmire, Judson, Dunean, Park Place, City View, Sans Souci

Sawmill towns State TownsIllinois Carrier Mills, HarrisburgOregon RoseburgWashingtonLongviewWisconsin Eau Claire

South America

Colombia San José de Suaita

See also Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Industrial district Old Great Falls Historic District, Paterson, NJ

Notes

References