Historic Hallowell

Jordan Marston & MaKayla McDonald

The Cotton Mill was useful because it made fabrics like dresses and lace curtains. This helped Hallowell because it provided jobs for men, women, and children. The Cotton Mill helped the economy of Hallowell because it brought money into the town. The Cotton Mill is a landmark in Hallowell because it was a very important part of the city's history.

In 1844, The Hallowell Cotton Mill was constructed. It was being built between Second Street and Water Street. It was created by George Robinson and backed by Justin E. Smith, John P. Flagg, Eben G. Dole, C.D. Bachelder and Captain Lawson Watts. The cotton mill was three stories high and 252’ long. The Cotton Mill was powered by steam engines. The steam engines were installed by Messrs, Freeman, and McClench. McClench had worked at Eagle Iron Works in Hallowell. In 1886, the building and company were handed over to Samuel R. Payson of Boston. In 1887, Payson changed the name to Kennebec River Mills.

The Cotton Mill's main textile was fabric. The Cotton Mill made jeans, sheeting, coat lining, and prints. At its height in 1866, there were two hundred people working at the mill at one time. In 1867, the mill was expanded. The Kennebec House, where workers could live, was across the street. The mill was successful for fifty years.

On March 15, 1890, people started to hear that the Cotton Mill was going to shut down because southern states had machinery to make cotton, so they didn’t have to send it to the northern states. They would make anything that was made of fabric like dresses and lace curtains. Cotton mills in the north had to buy the supplies when the southern states were saving money with their machinery. This happened in April, three years after it had become the Kennebec River Mill. The Cotton Mill closed and had to sell all of its machinery in 1890 and was replaced by the shoe industry.