Holland Mills by Pete Zizka 6-17-2023 |
Many
people remember that until Willimantic’s redevelopment period, there was
a line of brick buildings, several of them mills, along Valley Street.
If we were taking a walk in the 1950s, on the south side, beginning at
Church Street we’d have seen the old Natchaug Silk Mill. It had been
built in 1870 as the Paisley Silk Mill and had been bought by Dwight
Chaffee. In the 50s, it was home to the Church Street Package Store,
Jack’s Self Service Laundry and Mayor F.J. Bergeron’s sheet metal shop.
Next were the William Brand Company’s buildings which had started out as
the Morrison Machine Company and the Windham Silk Company. At the corner
of Bank and Valley Streets was the Trade School. That had started out in
1889 as the Turner Silk Mill. What we did not see in the 1950s, and what
only the oldest residents would remember, were the Holland Silk Mills
that once dominated the northeast and northwest intersection of Church
and Valley Streets and, together, were the largest silk mill employers
in Willimantic. In 1836 James H. and H.Goodrich Holland established the
Holland Manufacturing Company, the first silk industry in Willimantic
and built the first mill. In 1873, the company erected a brick building,
similar in size to their first building, on the opposite corner. By
1875, they employed about 200 workers and manufactured about one
thousand pounds per week and later stories attested to the fact that the
volumes of production and business had steadily increased. The material,
“is finished and made ready for the market in their own factories. They
make sewing; silk and machine twist for tailors, dress makers, boot and
shoe makers, harness makers, and the like craftsmen and women.” Unlike
the thread mills along the river, these mills relied on steam power and
the Holland Mills had two large steam engines. The Holland Silk Company
was very socially conscious and was generous to its employees and the
town. Pay increases were regularly given, two of the largest being 10
percent in 1916 and 12½ percent in 1923 .
When several of its employees who were among the National
Guardsmen were called to duty at the Mexican-American border in 1916,
the company gave their families “a good portion each week of the wages
which the men were earning.” The company left open the possibility that
the families could receive extra money as well since, “the company is
anxious to do its share for the men who left their work and families to
do service…for their country”.
Several events at the mills kept Willimantic residents watching. The
mills needed a substantial amount of water for the boilers and so the
Chronicle noted that there was intense interest in 1880 as “an immense
well was dug”. In 1888 it attempted have a 107 foot artesian well
drilled in order to supply water for use at the dye shops. “Though a solid rock was pierced one hundred
feet the hope of obtaining a flowing well was not realized and the
project was abandoned.” And so the company’s president tried sinking gun
powder into the shaft hoping that the explosion that would open seams
that would issue an abundant supply. “The
second explosion was successful and it is supposed that the
charge descended near the bottom of the well before exploding. Water
spouted it is said over one hundred feet into the air and drenched the
party who were watching the effect.”
Another event that drew crowds occurred in 1928
when the mill was updating its machinery. A four ton flywheel, ten feet
in diameter had to be removed from the east mill’s engine room. Part of
a brick wall was torn out and the
engine was lifted from its pit and wheeled to the street. The engine
that had powered it had been donated to Henry Ford for use at his museum
several days earlier. In late 1932, the company decided to move
operations to Stroudsberg, PA. The mills had been operating using
electricity and it was felt that ample water power would be available in
Stroudsberg, along with lower taxes. In 1937, however, even though the
company had moved and the buildings had been razed, Windham Community
Memorial Hospital received a $3,000 gift from Mrs. Mae Holland
Gutterson. Her father had been one of the founders of the company and
she had spent much time in Willimantic. The money fulfilled a promise
made during the hospital’s building campaign and became the last gift of
a company that had always cared for its workers and the community.
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