Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Nightingale and Allen 1850-c.1900
• Rhodes Mill 1830-1842
• various 1842-1850

Use (Historic)

• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

James Rhodes had been a partner in Pomfret Manufacturing Co. before building the first mill here, on the middle water privilege in Putnam. Cotton entrepreneurs, anxious to expand, convinced the Bundy family to sell the privilege in 1826, when Rhodes bought part of the water rights and built a masonry dam. His mill, on the east bank, opened in 1830. It burned in 1841 and was replaced with the present structure. After Rhodes' death in 1842 the mill's ownership and management passed among the interlocking partnerships that controlled cotton production in upper Putnam. G. C. Nightingale and C. Allen bought it in 1850 to augment the mill they had built immediately downstream in 1846. By 1860 M. S. Morse, who had built a cotton mill directly across the stream in 1846, had pooled his holdings with Nightingale and Allen. In 1861 this group built the extant dam (157' long, 18' high, originally stone but substantially built in concrete) to serve the mills on both banks. After building the dam M. S. Morse's involvement with the east-bank mills ended. Nightingale served as chief executive of the firm controlling the east mills while Allen supervised production as agent. A frame wing, since demolished, connected the mills. In 1870 Nightingale Mills employed 60 women, 59 men and 39 children producing sheetings and shirtings on 10,432 spindles and 205 looms. By 1889 control of the east and west mills was again consolidated, with George M. Morse as president of the new firm and Nightingale as treasurer. This arrangement (but not all the people) lasted into the 20th century. A warehouse now occupies the 1841 Rhodes Mill, a plastics firm the 1846 Nightingale Mill. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

Two (2) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

c.1841

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

The present structure, a 3 1/2-story brick mill, about 110' x 45' with clerestory monitor roof, stone sills and lintels, and stair tower centered on an end wall, dates to c.1841. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Brick

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

• Gable
• Monitor

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

• Water (Wheel)

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

One 3.43 acre parcel south of Providence Street on west side of Kennedy Drive and east bank of Quinebaug River.

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 11/133/000 / Link →

Acreage

3.43

Use (Present)

• Commercial

Form Completed By

n/a

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. Roth, Matthew, et al, Connecticut: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites (Washington DC: SIA, 1981).