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Hamilton Manufacturing Company (1825)
Blue Dye House
Built 1883
Mill History
The Hamilton Manufacturing Company was incorporated in 1825 for the purpose of manufacturing cotton and woolen goods. They were sold two mill powers (one mill power could drive 3,584 spindles) and a building site from the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, thus becoming the second of Lowell’s original ten large textile corporations. The Hamilton site was situated between the Pawtucket and Hamilton canals.
By 1842 the Hamilton Manufacturing Company had 21,248 spindles and 590 looms in three mills producing flannels, prints, and drillings. By 1866, a fifth mill was in production for a total of 50,268 spindles and 1,350 looms.
Several building campaigns expanded the size of the mills, and another campaign had begun in the early 1880s. By 1882, all of the original buildings on the northern bank of the Hamilton Canal had been replaced by building efforts.
When the Hamilton Manufacturing Company started cutting back its operations in 1923, the company began demolishing its boardinghouses along its southernmost boundary. In 1927 the company sold the Jackson Street Storehouse, Counting House buildings, and Mill No.6 to the Courier Citizen Company. In 1929 Marden & Murphy, “Industrial Liquidators,” bought most of the remaining Hamilton property. Robert F. Marden was also the assistant editor-in-chief of the Courier-Citizen Company. Marden and Murphy demolished most of the Hamilton Print Works Complex and boardinghouses between 1935 and 1936. The remaining structures were owned by various entities by mid-1950s.
Building History
By 1880, the Hamilton Manufacturing Company needed additional facilities for their Print Works. The only undeveloped piece of land nearby was across the Pawtucket Canal. The Blue Dye House (1883) is located across the Pawtucket Canal from the Hamilton millyard, and was the only Hamilton Print Works Complex structure built across the canal from the site. This Italianate brick building was originally four stories and was erected behind the Market House on land purchased from the Locks and Canals Company. The land had served as a landing for barges on the Pawtucket canal.
In 1929 the building was sold and the first floor was converted into a garage. In 1958, the new owner removed the top two stories and placed a flat roof on the building. The Italianate structure originally had a corbelled brick cornice that was lost when the building was altered.
The Lowell Sun Realty Corporation owned it in the 1980s and used it to garage their delivery trucks.
Preservation and Reuse
The former Hamilton Manufacturing Company Blue Dye House was converted into thirteen condominiums in 2006-2007. Architectural details include new replica wood windows.