415:. The mill owners recruited young Yankee farm girls from the surrounding area to come work the machines at Waltham. The mill girls, as they came to be known, lived in boarding houses provided by the company and were supervised by older women, and were subject to strict codes of conduct. They worked approximately eighty hours per week. The workers would wake to the factory bell at 4:40 in the morning. They would report to work at 5:00 and have a half-hour breakfast break at 7:00 a.m. They would then work until the half-hour- to forty-five-minute lunch break at noon. At 7:00 p.m. the factory would shut down and the workers would return to their company houses. This routine was followed six days a week. This system became known as the Waltham System.
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using a series of leather belts and pulleys powered by water turbines, that would prove much more efficient than the shaft and gear system then in use. The first mill was completed in late 1814, after almost a year of construction. Jacob
Perkins was in charge of installing the first waterwheel, dam,
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By early 1815, the cloth was sold. Production expanded quickly, as did profits. In 1816, a second larger mill was built next to the first mill. In addition to producing cloth, it also produced textile machinery for other companies. The two mills were later connected in 1843, as part of a planned
357:
After over a year of trials, Moody was able to bring Lowell's description of the power loom to fruition, making his own advancements along the way. It would be the perfection of Moody's power loom that would be the real "revolution" in
American industry. For the first time, all phases of cloth
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A National
Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination document is available upon request from the National Park Service for this site, and should be online but there is an error at the NPS Focus server for this document. However, available are the
292:, water power had been operating machinery to process cotton fiber into yarn, which would then be outsourced to small weaving shops and private homes where it would be woven into cloth on hand-operated looms. By 1810, dozens of spinning mills dotted the
307:, in 1810, Francis Cabot Lowell studied the workings of the successful British textile industry. He paid particular attention to the power loom, a device for which there was yet no equal in America. He knew that increased cloth production in the
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The
Waltham site would be expanded again during the late 19th century. The original mills were connected, the gable roofs removed, and additional floors were added with flat roofs. The Boston Manufacturing Company closed in 1930.
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442:; and several other new industrial centers throughout New England during the first half of the 19th century. The factory methods introduced at Waltham would also be copied by other industries in the years to follow.
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in 1812, he committed the plans to memory, disguising himself as a country farmer, since the
British banned export of the new technology at the time.
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Prince, Carl E., and Seth Taylor. "Daniel
Webster, the Boston Associates, and the US Government's Role in the Industrializing Process, 1815-1830."
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240:, using water power. They used plans for a power loom that he smuggled out of England as well as trade secrets from the earlier horse-powered
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468:-subsidized housing for seniors, the Ira B. Gordon Center For the Arts (part of the Waltham Mills Artists Association), and other housing.
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Amy Green, "Francis Cabot Lowell and the Boston
Manufacturing Company (1813-1820s)" (Information sheet, Charles River Museum)
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David
Stephen Unger, “A Place of Work: The Geography of an Early Nineteenth Century Machine Shop” (Harvard Dissertation 2013)
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attempted to create a well-controlled system of labor which varied from the harsh conditions observed while in
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was just about maximized, and the investors sought a new location to build even more mills. As the
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Industrial buildings and structures on the
National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
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was a business that operated one of the first factories in
America. It was organized in 1813 by
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Bergquist Jr, H. E. "The Boston Manufacturing Company and Anglo-American Relations 1807–1820."
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Kenton Beerman, "The Beginning of a Revolution: Waltham and the Boston Manufacturing Company."
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Robert W Lovett, "The Beverly Cotton Manufactory: Or some new light on an early cotton mill
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to develop and construct the machinery and to supervise the construction of the new mill.
692:"National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Boston Manufacturing Company"
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Boston Manufacturing Company, 144-190 Moody Street, Waltham, Middlesex County, MA
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countryside. However, cloth production was still fairly slow with this system.
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production could be brought under one roof. Moody also developed a system of
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434:, on a much larger scale. The same group of investors would later establish
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The Beginning of a Revolution: Waltham and the Boston Manufacturing Company
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George R. Adams; Candace Jenkins; Mike Folsom; Donald C. Jackson (1984).
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established the first water-powered successful textile spinning mill in
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Waltham, Massachusetts
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268:, and elsewhere in New England. Many rural towns now had their own
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has also been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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784:", 70 photos, 14 data pages, 6 photo caption pages
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Enterprising elite: The Boston Associates and the world they made
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National Register of Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts
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at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School
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U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
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Accompanying six photos, exterior and interior, from 1977
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United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
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Defunct manufacturing companies based in Massachusetts
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area mills, and modified and perfected along the way.
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Historic American Engineering Record in Massachusetts
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Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
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PDF of Economic Decision-Making: Francis Cabot Lowell
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Industrial archaeological sites in the United States
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List of National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
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Boston Manufacturing Company and Dam in August, 2011
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depended on such a machine. Upon his return trip to
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Boston Manufacturing Company, Waltham, Massachusetts
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History of the National Register of Historic Places
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1430:Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
1395:Buildings and structures in Waltham, Massachusetts
1357:National Register of Historic Places portal
788:Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
571:Bulletin of the Business Historical Society pre
462:Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation
1420:Defunct textile companies of the United States
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378:The power loom was soon copied by many other
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1425:National Historic Landmarks in Massachusetts
404:Boston Manufacturing Company (1978), HAER-54
1415:Manufacturing companies established in 1813
573:( Dec 1952) 26, 000004; ABI/INFORM(pg. 218)
418:By the early 1820s, the water power of the
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346:The group hired a skilled mechanic named
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546:. National Park Service. Archived from
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330:purchased the Boies Paper Mill site in
264:". The idea was successfully copied at
256:that followed was famously employed by
645:. Historic American Engineering Record
513:"National Register Information System"
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334:. With a ten-foot drop in the nearby
322:Boston Manufacturing Company, c. 1813
7:
793:Boston Manufacturing Company records
778:Historic American Engineering Record
643:Historic American Engineering Record
639:"Boston Manufacturing Company MA-54"
518:National Register of Historic Places
460:Today, the site is occupied by the
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1390:Economic history of Massachusetts
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540:"Boston Manufacturing Company"
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756:Journal of the Early Republic
690:George R. Adams (June 1977).
115:Show map of the United States
455:the company's worker housing
226:Boston Manufacturing Company
29:Boston Manufacturing Company
18:United States historic place
1320:National Historic Landmarks
771:. By Kenton Beerman. 1994.
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1315:Cape Cod National Seashore
451:National Historic Landmark
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242:Beverly Cotton Manufactory
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386:died in 1817, at age 42.
189:NRHP reference
90:Show map of Massachusetts
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1369:United States portal
780:(HAER) No. MA-54, "
697:. National Park Service.
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290:Pawtucket, Rhode Island
1400:Waltham, Massachusetts
866:Keeper of the Register
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246:Beverly, Massachusetts
238:Waltham, Massachusetts
130:Waltham, Massachusetts
881:National Park Service
861:Contributing property
665:"Local History Pages"
523:National Park Service
432:Lowell, Massachusetts
409:The Boston Associates
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396:Waltham-Lowell System
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328:The Boston Associates
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266:Lowell, Massachusetts
234:The Boston Associates
157:42.37306°N 71.23583°W
758:2.3 (1982): 283–299.
671:on December 15, 2005
384:Francis Cabot Lowell
363:flumes and raceway.
299:While on a visit to
230:Francis Cabot Lowell
215:Designated NHLD
747:Dalzell, Robert F.
744:15.1 (1973): 45–55.
525:. January 23, 2007.
326:In September 1813,
254:Rhode Island System
162:42.37306; -71.23583
153: /
128:144-190 Moody St.,
809:2019-12-20 at the
773:The Concord Review
594:2015-04-02 at the
585:The Concord Review
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449:It was declared a
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871:Historic district
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280:Since 1793, when
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210:December 22, 1977
202:Significant dates
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373:
356:
345:
325:
298:
279:
225:
223:
15:
1303:Other lists
1263:Southbridge
1143:Marlborough
1097:Springfield
1030:New Bedford
380:New England
375:expansion.
294:New England
160: /
136:Coordinates
1384:Categories
1193:Winchester
1168:Somerville
1128:Framingham
1056:Gloucester
1025:Fall River
1004:Barnstable
911:Barnstable
499:References
413:Lancashire
348:Paul Moody
342:Revolution
301:Lancashire
184:Paul Moody
145:42°22′23″N
1273:Worcester
1209:Brookline
1178:Wakefield
1133:Lexington
1118:Cambridge
1113:Arlington
976:Worcester
956:Nantucket
951:Middlesex
946:Hampshire
916:Berkshire
181:Architect
148:71°14′9″W
1345:Category
1268:Uxbridge
1245:southern
1240:northern
1173:Stoneham
1163:Sherborn
1066:Lawrence
980:northern
966:Plymouth
936:Franklin
807:Archived
675:June 30,
649:July 15,
622:Archived
592:Archived
554:July 15,
472:See also
352:Amesbury
196:77001412
125:Location
1310:Bridges
1278:eastern
1183:Waltham
1158:Reading
1148:Medford
1123:Concord
1076:Methuen
1061:Ipswich
1051:Andover
1035:Taunton
1009:Harwich
971:Suffolk
961:Norfolk
941:Hampden
921:Bristol
751:(1987).
587:(1994)
424:Waltham
332:Waltham
305:England
286:America
276:Origins
1325:Boston
1235:Boston
1219:Quincy
1214:Milton
1188:Weston
1153:Newton
1138:Lowell
854:Topics
720:"Home"
706:
589:online
313:Boston
1081:Salem
931:Essex
926:Dukes
695:(pdf)
244:, of
173:Built
1071:Lynn
677:2008
651:2008
556:2008
224:The
176:1813
422:at
350:of
288:at
191:No.
1386::
722:.
641:.
542:.
531:^
521:.
515:.
464:,
438:;
303:,
272:.
982:)
978:(
839:e
832:t
825:v
726:.
679:.
653:.
598:.
558:.
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