Slater Mill Historic Site

Significant dates

Old Slater Mill
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark

Location	Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Coordinates	41°52′39″N 71°22′57″W / 41.87750°N 71.38250°W / 41.87750; -71.38250Coordinates: 41°52′39″N 71°22′57″W / 41.87750°N 71.38250°W / 41.87750; -71.38250
Area	4.23 acres (1.71 ha)^[1]
Built	1793
NRHP Reference #	66000001
Added to NRHP	November 13, 1966^[2]
Designated NHL	November 13, 1966^[3]

The Slater Mill is a historic textile mill complex on the banks of the Blackstone River in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, modeled after cotton spinning mills first established in England. It is the first water-powered cotton spinning mill in North America to utilize the Arkwright system of cotton spinning as developed by Richard Arkwright.

Samuel Slater, the mill's founder, apprenticed as a young man in Belper, England with industrialist Jedediah Strutt. Shortly after immigrating to the United States, Slater was hired by Moses Brown of Providence, Rhode Island to produce a working set of machines necessary to spin cotton yarn using water power. Construction of the machines was completed in 1793, as well as a dam, waterway, waterwheel, and mill. Manufacturing was based on Richard Arkwright's cotton spinning system, which included carding, drawing, and spinning machines. Slater initially hired children and families to work in his mill, establishing a pattern that was replicated throughout the Blackstone Valley and known as the "Rhode Island System". It was later eclipsed by Francis Cabot Lowell's Waltham System.

Slater Mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark on November 13, 1966.^[1]^[3] In 2014, the mill was added to the newly formed Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park.

Architectural history

The original portion of the Slater Mill built in 1793 was six bays long and two stories tall. Several additions were made beginning in 1801, and a second added in 1835. Between 1869 and 1872, a large addition was made to the north end of the mill, designed by noted Providence architect William R. Walker.^[4] Cotton spinning continued until 1895, after which the mill was used for various industrial purposes until 1923. The building had suffered numerous fires in the past, and two fires occurred in 1912 which precipitated awareness of the building and the need for its preservation.

From mill to museum

In 1921, the non-profit Old Slater Mill Association was founded with the purpose of saving the historic Mill. Efforts to restore the mill began in 1923; modern additions to the structure were removed, restoring the mill to its 1835 appearance. In 1955, it opened as a museum. Restoration of the nearby Wilkinson Mill (built 1810-1811) was completed in 1978 as part of the Slater Mill site.^[5]

The Slater Mill site now serves as a living history museum, educational center, and community center. It includes five acres of land on both sides of the Blackstone River, a dam on the river, two historic mills (the Slater Mill and Wilkinson Mill), and the Sylvanus Brown House (a house built in 1758 but moved to the site in the 1960s).

Gallery

Slater Mill
Wilkinson Mill
Sylvanus Brown House
View from Main Street Bridge

References

1 2 Blanche Higgins Schroer (September 15, 1975) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Old Slater Mill / Old Slater Mill; Slater Mill Historic Site, National Park Service and Accompanying 6 images, including print from ca. 1812, drawing from 1907, and photos from 1973 and 1974 and undated
↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
1 2 "Old Slater Mill". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved June 29, 2008.
↑ King, Moses. King's Pocket-Book of Providence, RI. Providence: Tibbitts & Shaw, 1882.
↑ Creer, Philip D. (April 10, 1942). "Slater's Mill, supplemental information" (PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. p. 1. Retrieved January 30, 2015.

External links

Official website
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. RI-82, "Slater Mill, Off Main Street on Blackstone River, Pawtucket, Providence County, RI", 2 photos, supplemental material
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. RI-1, "Slater Mill, Pawtucket, Providence County, RI", 64 photos, 6 color transparencies, 24 measured drawings, 53 data pages, 6 photo caption pages
Providence Journal video of Slater Mill Historic Site
Providence Journal video of the Blackstone River
Site about Slater and his mill
Pawtucket Arts Festival

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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Category Portal WikiProject

Textile museums

North America	American Textile History Museum Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum Augusta Canal Discovery Center at Enterprise Mill Belknap Mill Museum Boott Mills Brigham City Museum-Gallery Cooper-Hewitt Costume Museum of Canada Cotton Museum Embroidery Museum and Resource Center The Fabric Workshop and Museum Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum Hat and Fragrance Textile Gallery International Quilt Study Center Kansas City Garment District Museum Lowell National Historical Park Marie Webster House Metropolitan Museum of Art Mission Mill Museum The Museum at FIT Museum L-A Museum of Work and Culture National Quilt Museum Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles Slater Mill Historic Site Stillwater Mill Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum Textile Museum (Washington, D.C.) Textile Museum of Canada Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and State Historic Site Western Reserve Historical Society Wile Carding Mill Willamette Heritage Center Windham Textile and History Museum

Central America	Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing

Europe	Bielsko-Biała Museum Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery Bocholt textile museum Central Museum of Textiles, Łódź Centre National du Costume de Scene Costume Museum (Kastoria) Devonshire Collection of Period Costume Ethnographic Museum (Belgrade) Fashion and Textile Museum Fashion Museum, Bath Helmshore Mills Textile Museum Killerton Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin Museum of Ayrshire Country Life and Costume Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs de Lyon Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture Museum of Jewellery in the Silver Way Museum of the History of the Greek Costume Museum of the Romanian Peasant Museo del Traje National Museum of Costume National Museum of Costume and Fashion Nordwolle Factory Museum Nottingham Industrial Museum Prato textile museum Quarry Bank Mill Queen Street Textile Museum Textilfabrik Cromford Victoria and Albert Museum Wigan Pier

Asia	Azerbaijan Carpet Museum Bhutan Textile Museum Bsous Silk Museum Calico Museum of Textiles Carpet Museum of Iran Chojun Textile & Quilt Art Museum Kurdish Textile Museum Lok Virsa Museum National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum Sanskriti Textile Museum Textile Museum (Jakarta) Yokohama Silk Museum

Related topics	Textile museum Design museum Shoe museum

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