Construction of the machines, as well as a dam, waterway, waterwheel and mill was completed in 1793. Manufacturing was based on Richard Arkwright's (1732-92) 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. The sculpture " The Wind Rotor ", was made by Donald Gerola, who is a Rhode Island-based artist who specializes in large-scale steel sculptures, often wind-powered.