Lockwood Mill Historic District facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Lockwood Mill Historic District
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c. 1920 postcard view
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 Location in Maine
Location in the United States
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| Location | 6,6B,8,10 and 10B Water St., Waterville, Maine |
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| Area | 7.5 acres (3.0 ha) |
| Built | 1873 |
| Architect | Amos D. Lockwood (original complex) Emil Blackstrom (1957 office remodel) |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Colonial Revival, Georgian Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 07000412 |
| Added to NRHP | May 8, 2007 |
The Lockwood Mill Historic District is a special area in Waterville, Maine. It holds the only big factory complex from the 1800s in the city. This historic place is named after Amos D. Lockwood. He was a famous industrial designer of his time. One of its buildings, called #2, was home to the Hathaway Shirt Company for 45 years. This district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. This means it is an important historical site.
About the Lockwood Mills
The Lockwood Mill complex is on the west side of the Kennebec River. It is just south of downtown Waterville. The complex has three large brick buildings. It also has special water systems. These systems helped power the factories.
The factory buildings are long and rectangular. They are between two and five stories tall. They all share a similar Italianate style. This was a popular building design. Mill #1 was built in 1875. Mills #2 and #3 were built in 1882 and 1883. Over time, some changes and additions were made to them. The power system includes a hydroelectric plant and a dam. These were built in 1918-1919. They replaced an older wooden dam.
History of the Mills
Waterville started building textile factories later than other towns nearby. In 1866, local business people worked together. They wanted to build a large power plant. Their goal was to develop factories where old sawmills used to be.
Mill #1 was built in 1875. This was thanks to Reuben Dunn, a financier, and Amos Lockwood, the engineer. Lockwood had worked on many mill projects before. He helped build factories in places like Saco and Lisbon Falls.
The factories here used a special building method. It was called "slow burning" construction. This was designed to stop fires from spreading quickly. They used large wooden beams. There were also no hidden spaces or attics. This made the buildings safer.
The mills made cotton textiles until 1956. After that, Mill #2 was used by the Hathaway Shirt Company. This company was famous around the world. They made shirts from 1957 to 1992. Hathaway was one of the last shirt makers in the United States.
