Built 1890 (1890) NRHP Reference # 83000657 Area 1 ha | MPS Fall River MRA Opened 1890 Added to NRHP 16 February 1983 | |
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Location Alden St., Fall River, Massachusetts Similar Missisquoi Museum, Flint Mills, Charles M Braga Jr Memorial, Pilgrim Mills, American Printing Co and | ||
Cornell Mills is an historic cotton textile mill on Alden Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. Built in 1890, it is a well-preserved example of late 19th-century industrial mill architecture in stone. The mill complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. As of 2012, most of the main mill building stood vacant.
Description and history
The Cornell Mills building stands in eastern Fall River, and is sandwiched between Alden Street to the east and the western interchange of Massachusetts Route 24 and Interstate 195 to the southwest, from which it is a prominent landmark. The main mill building is a three-story granite structure, fashioned out of rough-cut blocks with dressed corner quoining blocks, lintels, and sills. The window bays are regular in size, but are relieved architecturally by buttresses that group them into threes and sixes. It has a low-pitch gable roof with a wide cornice. The property's ancillary buildings include an engine house, garage, waste house, and storehouse. A freestanding brick chimney rises 160 feet (49 m), with corbelled brickwork at the top.
The mill was organized in 1889 and built in 1890 from native Fall River granite. It had a capacity of 45,000 spindles at its peak in the 1910s, and produced printed cloth and other textiles. John D. Flint was the company's first president. The plant was closed in 1930.