page_title: American Printing Co. and Metacomet Mill
section_title: Historical background
hierarchical_section_title: American Printing Co. and Metacomet Mill / Historical background
caption_attribution_description: English: American Printing Company Mill No. 7, Fall River, Massachusetts (built 1906) This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 83000617
context_page_description: The Metacomet Mill, built in 1847 by Colonel Richard Borden for the manufacture of cotton textiles, is the oldest remaining textile mill in Fall River, Massachusetts.
  The adjacent American Printing Company Mill No. 7 was constructed in 1906 for the production of cotton print cloth.
  Both structures were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and today contain a variety of small businesses.
  The site was also photographed and surveyed by Jack E. Boucher in 1968, as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey.
context_section_description: The Metacomet Mill was originally constructed in 1847 by Colonel Richard Borden, a prominent local industrialist who had begun the Fall River Iron Works in 1821. The plans for the mill were brought from Bolton, England by Major Durfee and William Davol, and it was considered a "model mill" for its time. The mill was constructed of native field stones over the stream of the falling Quequechan River, which powered the machinery of the early mill. It originally had a gable roof and was five and one-half stories tall. The Metacomet Mill is also significant in that it was the first recorded use of cast iron girders and beams for mill construction in the United States. The cast iron beams and girders were an improvement on timber supports, which tended to become soft over time, resulting in a slight sagging in the floors, and upsetting the operation of machinery.
  The Metacomet Mill was substantially enlarged later in the 19th century, and a steam engine was added to supplement the power of the falls. It later became known as "Iron Works" Mill No.6.
  The American Printing Company Mill No.7, constructed of red brick in 1906, just upstream from the Metacomet Mill, on the site of the former Anawan Mill, also originally built by Colonel Richard Borden in 1825. Mill No. 7 was the last expansion of the American Printing Company, once the largest employer in Fall River during the height of its cotton textile industry. It is also known as "Iron Works" Mill No.7, as this was the name of the cloth-producing division of the same company; a tribute to the company's roots in 1821. Mill No.7 featured a Gothic-style engine house, which can still be seen today, along Anawan Street.
caption: American Printing Company Mill No. 7, built 1906
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