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Appleton Mills
Appleton Mills
Mills No. 1, 1A, and 4
Built 1902-1914
Building History:
The Appleton Manufacturing Company textile mills, incorporated in 1838, were located between the Pawtucket and Hamilton Canals. The founders were Thomas H. Perkins, Ebenezer Francis, and Samuel Appleton. Between 1905 and 1918 the entire nineteenth-century Appleton mill yard, with the exception of the New Mill (1873), was demolished and reconstructed under the leadership of Appleton Company Treasurer Alexander G. Cumnock.
Mill #1 was a six-story brick structure on the Hamilton Canal with a slightly pitched roof and large wooden brackets supporting the overhang.
Mill 1A was the Office Building for Appleton Manufacturing Company built c.1905. It was an ell of Mill #4. It was a five story brick structure that houses the company offices in the east end of the second floor. A footbridge over the canal led to the entrance of the building.
Mill #4 was five-story brick mill structure with a wooden bridge (c.1920) across Jackson Street linking it to Appleton Mill #5. It is similar to Mill #1 with the exception of the use of flush granite lintels on the third floor, a unique design.
Preservation & Reuse:
By the 1980s the mill buildings were suffering from lack of maintenance and severe deterioration. The buildings are now being rehabilitated into artists’ live/work residences by Trinity Financial as part of the Hamilton Canal District Project.