Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Hale Co.
• Hamilton Woolen Mills
• Williams Flannel Mills c.1837-c.1900

Use (Historic)

• Textiles

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

For historical significance see National Register application: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/96000780.pdf Textile manufacture began here in 1818 with John and George Tisdale, who built frame mills to make cottons. Erastus Williams bought the mills in 1837 and installed machinery to produce woolens. After a fire in 1865 Williams built the present complex. His son E. Winslow Williams ran the operation for the rest of the century, making flannels and ladies dress goods. At peak operation, in the late 1880s, Williams employed 150 people and ran 10 sets of cards. A synthetic textile producer now occupies the mills. (Roth)

Number of Existing Buildings

n/a

Dates of Construction

c.1865, 1877, c.1910

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill

Architectural Description

For description see National Register application: http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/96000780.pdf and https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Photos/96000780.pdf The buildings all have coursed granite walls and cut-stone sills and lintels. The main mill, 4 1/2-story and about 135' x 40', has a gable roof and a central stair tower with mansard roof. A 2-story wing, about 100' x 40' with near-flat roof, extends to the north. Three smaller contiguous wings, each about 40' x 40', also extend to the north: 3-story, which housed part of the spinning operations; 2-story, which housed carding; and 1-story, which housed picking. Beyond the wings stands a detached 3 1/2-story gable-roofed mill. A c.1910 brick boiler house is the only 20th-century structure in the complex. Several frame workers' dwellings lie south of the mills, but recent highway construction caused demolition of most of the small village. (Roth)

Exterior Material(s)

• Stone

Structural System(s)

n/a

Roof Form

• Flat
• Mansard

Roof Material

n/a

Power Source

n/a

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

on corner of Yantic and Chapel Hill

Adjacent To

• Water (for Power)

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 49/1/45 / Link →

Acreage

7

Use (Present)

• Other: Initial rehab work for hospitality dating to c.2004; stopped after death of principal. Sold 6/2018 for $826,000 to Michael Jasse, Mill Development LLC, for redevelopment possibilities incl'g hotel. Aug 2020: NPS conditional approval of Part 2. April 2022: project under Gabi Benhamo, Mill Development LLC, received property tax abatement for $26 million rehab as 164-room boutique hotel and banquet hall. 2022-23: Municipality extended gas lines to site. 1/2024: changes to rehab plan approved by Norwich Planning Commission.
• Vacant

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).