Durfee Mills
Encyclopedia
Fall River, Massachusetts
Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
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Mill No. 1 was built in 1866 for the manufacture of cotton cloth. The company was named in honor of Major Bradford Durfee. The mill complex is the largest, and most complete in the city. Mill No. 2 was added in 1871, and Mill No. 3 in 1881, raising the capacity to 109,360 spindles. It produced 23 million yards of cotton cloth annually.
After the Great Fall River Fire of 1874 the sloped roof was retrofitted with a flat roof to ease allow fire fighting.
The company was liquidated in 1935. In 1968, the site was photographed by Jack E. Boucher
Jack E. Boucher
Jack E. Boucher is an American photographer. He began working for the National Park Service in 1958 and continued working there until at least 2006, 48 years later, serving as the Chief Photographer for the Historic American Buildings Survey...
as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey
Historic American Buildings Survey
The Historic American Buildings Survey , Historic American Engineering Record , and Historic American Landscapes Survey are programs of the National Park Service established for the purpose of documenting historic places. Records consists of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written...
The mills were added to the National Historic Register in 1983.
Today, the site, along with the adjacent Union Mills
Union Mills (Fall River, Massachusetts)
Union Mills is an historic textile mill complex located on Pleasant Street in Fall River, Massachusetts.The Union Mills company was incorporated in 1859, and was the first large steam-powered mill built in the city, having installed Corliss steam engines. The buildings are constructed from native...
is occupied by numerous retail businesses and a restaurant, and is known as the Durfee-Union Mills. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has an office in the complex.