Mills and industrial properties have been intertwined into the history of Massachusetts since the Industrial Revolution.

Although most of the buildings have not operated for their initial purpose for decades, many of the buildings are being revitalized to fit more modern day needs like housing and other business.
Mills started with Francis Cabot Lowell who formed the Boston Manufacturing Company and established his first mill in Waltham in 1813.

Due to Lowell’s success, many new mills and mill towns just like it began to sprout up along rivers across Massachusetts and New England.

Around 45 mill towns were established during the industrial revolution just in Massachusetts alone including Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, Monson and Palmer.

Through the 20th century, many of the mills went out of business and became abandoned.
Those that remain standing are being purchased and repurposed to still preserve its towns history.
Most of the buildings are in the planning or construction stages of being redeveloped.

Mill buildings that remain untouched are due either to the amount of money it would cost to clean the building of chemicals from its original business or the money it would cost to reconstruct it, according to government officials.

Ludlow

Ludlow was established in 1774, and was home to many sawmills and gristmills, utilizing the power from several sources of water nearby like the Chicopee River, Broad Brook, Higher Brook and Stony Brook.

In 1868, the Ludlow Company opened and operated the largest mill who employed more than 5,000 people who produced jute yarns, twine and webbing.

After becoming abandoned in the early 20th century, Westmass Area Development Corp. acquired Ludlow Mills almost a decade ago and oversees the conversion of the more than 120-year-old mill complex into a modern, mixed-use development.

Several redevelopment projects at Ludlow Mills include the renovation of the Residences at Mill 10, Iron Duke Brewing and a variety of small industrial users in the stock houses and a public riverwalk that provides riverfront access and a pedestrian/cycle connection along the southern edge of the property, with plans for more recreational opportunities in the future.

The Ludlow Mills are helping with the affordable housing problem in Massachusetts.

Mill 10 opened in 2017 and features 75 units of mixed-income age-restricted housing.

WinnDevelopment plans to renovate Mill 8 into 95 mixed-income units for seniors with 147 parking spaces, a fitness center, a resident lounge, laundry facilities, work pods and an outdoor community space.

Ludlow Mills continue to undergo cleanup and construction including a recent grant in July that will help examine and remove asbestos from buildings 46 and 48 in the Ludlow Mills complex.
Some problems with the existing buildings include age and dimensions.

Certain buildings and hallways are too wide making it unable to redesign.

Current concerns with Mill 11 include low ceilings, columns and concrete slab floors that cannot be brought to code for any commercial or residential use.

For example, occupiable spaces require a ceiling height of no less than 7 feet, 6 inches by Massachusetts state building code.

Currently, each floor is only 6 feet, 10 inches from the floor to the ceiling.

Westmass deemed there was nothing that can occupy that space and plan to demolish it.

Chicopee

Chicopee adopted the motto “Industriae Variae,” which means various industries, because of all the factories that use to be located in town including cotton and woolen mills, textiles, brass and iron foundries, paper making, footwear factories, the first friction matches and ship building.

The mills constructed by Boston Associates, known as Chicopee Manufacturing Company, were located on the present-day Facemate property and were used for the manufacture of textiles.

The Chicopee Manufacturing Company was around from 1823 through 1915 before the property was purchased by the Facemate Corporation in 1977.

The company produced finished cotton and synthetic cloth products.

From 1870 through 1896, the Uniroyal property was utilized as a lumber yard by the Chicopee Manufacturing Company until it transitioned to manufacturing bicycle tires from 1896 through 1898.
From 1898 to 1981, the site was controlled by the Fisk Rubber Company to Uniroyal Inc., and manufactured adhesives and pneumatic tires for bicycle, automobile, motorcycles and trucks.
Uniroyal and Facemate closed in 1980 and 1990.

By April 2010, Chicopee successfully gained ownership of the former Uniroyal and Facemate properties.

Chicopee Department of Planning and Development Director Lee Pouliot said the two properties were planned for redevelopment together because they abut one another in Chicopee Falls.

The development plan is known as River Mills at Chicopee Falls.

The town prioritized the redevelopment of the Facemate property by creating a senior center called the RiverMills Center in 2014 and another privately owned River Mills Assisted Living in 2018 at Chicopee Falls.

The town also has a contract agreement on another parcel in the complex has been bought by Brisa Development LLC who has proposed to build a mixed-use development that includes a 106-apartment building, indoor sports complex and a brewery/restaurant.

The project is estimated to break ground in late fall 2023 for the residential component.
Pouliot said for the Uniroyal property there has been ongoing sitewide assessment and cleanup including the demolition of 18 structures.

The official address is 154 Grove St. and there are still four structures available for redevelopment including a former office building, small retail shop and two production buildings number 27 and 42.
Chicopee has put together a request for development to hear from proposals for the property.

Pouliot said the deadline for those proposals were due Aug. 4 before a developer is chosen after an evaluation process.

“We are hoping to see some mixed use proposals that capitalize on the river, the access that is available and that it is integrated into the general Chicopee Falls neighborhood,” he said.

Pouliot added the two properties cover a large area of space in a unigue location.

“Between these two properties we are talking about almost 40 acres of land in the heart of an urban neighborhood which is nearly unheard of. I think we have set the expectation between the senior center, the assisted living facility and now this third redevelopment proposal and that we will be able to garner the type of redevelopment we are looking for with the Uniroyal property,” Pouliot said.

Holyoke

Holyoke is still referred to as the Paper City because in 1885, over 25 paper mills were in operation producing a variety of paper products.

For many years it was operated by the Valley Paper Company and produced fine writing paper and envelope paper.

By 1920, the city was producing 80% of the writing paper used in the United States as well as the largest silk and alpaca wool mills in the world.

Approximately 19 mill buildings were demolished throughout the late 1950s and even as recently as 2019 after going out of business.

Holyoke’s Planning and Economic Development Director Aaron Vega said Holyoke has had the cannabis industry come in and try to repurpose some of the mill buildings.

Green Thumb Industries medical marijuana occupies the second floor of an old paper mill at 28 Appleton St. where the company completed an $8 million renovation and eventually renovated another location at 100 Water St. which was long owned by Hampden Papers.

Riverside Mill, located at 1 Cabot St., has transformed into a cannabis co-working space where a variety of cannabis businesses under one roof can share facilities and a sense of community.
Riverside Mill No. 2 was originally built in 1867 as an independent paper firm that merged into American Writing Paper Company and eventual home of National Blank Book.

The Baustein Building currently serves as an artist and maker community located in the former 1800s Merrick/American Thread factory.

In 2013, Dirk and Susannah Auferoth bought the 120,000 square feet, three floor Baustein Buillding at 532. Main St. and created non-residential studios for artists to work and create their art.
There have also been some projects to address the housing crisis in Holyoke.

WinnDevelopment currently owns the Farr Alpaca Mill Complex and plans to turn it into 86 units of mixed-income and 55 years and older rental housing complex.

The Farr Alpaca Mill was started in 1873 by Hubert Farr and produced alpaca wool.
The mill complex consists of six buildings, totaling 168,000 square feet that has sat vacant since 1990.

The project will preserve 86,000 square feet in buildings five, six and part of building four.
Although a majority of mill buildings are being repurposed, there are still some that remain untouched.

Vega said, “We do have a number of projects in the pipeline for some of these buildings. What’s happened in Holyoke is a lot of these buildings were purchased recently by cannabis companies. They did pay top dollar for them; sometimes overassessed value and a lot of those projects are not going forward, and we are uncertain as to what is going to happen to some of those buildings. It will be interesting to see if they are actually able to go forward and do their originally project for for cannabis or if they will be back on the market.”

Palmer

Palmer is currently working to revitalize the Thorndike Mills, 4145 Church St.

Palmer Town Planner/Economic Development Director Linda Leduc said she has been working with the Faye family to find uses for the building.

The property consists of seven linked mill buildings that contain 90,000 square feet and 5 acres.

The complex constructed in 1836 was the first of the buildings that remain on-site today and focused primarily on granite block construction.

In 1836, the Thorndike Company was incorporated for the purposes of manufacturing cotton, woolen and silk goods.

The first dam was also constructed in 1837 and a another new dam was built in 1868.
The mill complex and power generation facilities were acquired by Thorndike Energy LLC in February 2013.

Leduc is currently working with Thorndike Energy LLC. to provide an overlay district that would provide for mixed uses.

Leduc said, “That is something we are working together on for future uses for their complex. It would have more mixed use than our traditional industrial zone. Mixed services, retail, restaurants, along with industry. It would open up other opportunities then traditional manufacturing.”

According to Leduc, Thorndike Energy LLC also has an interest in green energy production from their hydro units.

The mill is currently generating approximately 800 kilowatts of hydroelectric power. The site is completely powered by this renewable energy source with excess power exported to the local community.

Not only does the green energy benefit the town, Leduc thinks once this project becomes a mixed use overlay district, it will allow for jobs and people to take part in the building.

“The history that revolves around it and the jobs that it provided in the heyday, it still has some nostalgic to it. The first effort is to reuse it, not to demo that kind of a building. Getting it back to providing jobs not just to local village but to the region. It potential could provide a lot of jobs to the region,” Leduc said.

She added, “I think by providing other opportunities for maybe some restaurants or entertainment or making it a destination, that would be great to bring people to Palmer. That route gets well-traveled and if people could stop for a little bit and stay in Thorndike, whatever we could provide there for people to stay in Palmer for a little bit instead of passing through.”

Monson

Monson continues to work on reutilizing its two mills, the Omega Mills and the S.F. Cushman Woolen Mill which was originally built in the early 1800s and was one of the first wool carding facilities in the US.

Monson Conservation Agent Toni Uliana said the town has been working with Westmass Development and the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to conduct an environmental assessment of the complex.
The Omega Mill, 21 Bliss St., has been on the unpaid tax list for Monson for over 20 years, according to Uliana.

The LLC that used to own the building dissolved in 2021.

Uliana said, “The town would love to take that building so that we can do redevelopment of the site for something better. The town would end up being responsible for the cleanup if there are any contaminants or hazardous materials present on site from its former use of a metal processing place.”

The property is the site of an old woolen mill which then the Omega company did electroplating chemical cadmium cyanide there.

She added that the company that owns the S.F. Cushman Woolen Mill, at the corner of Cushman and Gates Streets, is still paying taxes on it but is not sure there are any plans right now to redevelop that building.