Whittall Mills - Worcester MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Whittail Mills are an extensive group of brick factory buildings most of which were built between 1870 and 1910. The area contains all the carpet mills owned by Matthew J Whittail at the height of his company's prosperity in 1911. This area became Worcester's largest carpet industry. Industrial use of the site dates back to 1824 when there was a machine shop owned by White & Boyden, however the major sigificant period dates after 1870 when the Crompton Carpet Company was formed.

The Crompton Carpet Company was formed by George Crompton and Horace Wyman. It was the secnond American company to possess power looms for the manufacture of Brussels carpets, the first being the Bigelow Company of Clinton, MA. During this periond the English patent laws hindered the importation of looms. Crompton and Wyman invented their own power loom as a result. In 1870-72 the company built the Packachoag Mill and equiped it with 16 Crompton looms which were powered by the Middle River. Power looms for Brussels carpets became widely available causing the price of carpets to drop from $3 per yard to $1 in 1879. This is the year Crompton Carpet Company went out of business.

In 1879 the property and equipment were to William J Hogg of Philadelphia. In 1884 a fire destroyed much of Packachoag Mills. This mill was rebuilt as a yarn mill and began manufacturing carpets. The
name of the company was changed to Worcester Carpet Company during this period. The company manufactured "Wilton and body Brussels carpets of the finest grades", employing 500 skilled workers in 1898. The mill was expanded by the addtion of another mill.

In 1901 Matthew J Whittail, an English immigrant, who worked as the supreintendant of the Crompton Carpet Mill, purchased land next to the Middle River. It was under his ownership that the Whittail Mills saw their biggest expansion. By WWI the mill had expanded to 500,000 square feet of floor space, contained 350 looms and employed 1500 skilled laborers.

Among the firm's most famous company Were the President and Mrs McKinley who selected Whittailcarpets for the White House. Between 1891 abnd 1897 the Whittail Mills supplied carpets for buildings owned by the Federal Government.

Whittail was not only a successful business person, but also provied health and disability benefits to the employees. He donated the funds to build the St Matthews Church and the South Worcester Branch Library. The Whittail Company continued to manufacture carpets at this located until the company was sold in 1950.

Today the mills are occupied by Rottman's Furniture and other industrial companies.

Street address: properties off Brussels St. Worcester, MA County / Borough / Parish: Worcester Year listed: 1980 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899 Historic function: Industry/Processing/Extraction Current function: Industry/Processing/Extraction Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.