Cocheco mills history and biography
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John Williams and Dover's Mills
John Williams and the Beginning of the Mill Industry in Dover
By John Scales
Cocheco Chats, July 1921
John Williams was born in Alfred, Maine, May 23, 1770; he resided in Dover from 1807 to 1840; he died in Boston July 17, 1843. He was 27 years old when he came to Dover; he was well educated in the schools of that period; he was well versed in knowledge of the mercantile methods of business that prevailed in New England at that time, having “kept store” in his home town before coming to Dover; he was a large, fine appearing man, pleasing in his address; he was not a garrulous conversationalist, but he had a shrewd way of making others talk, from which he drew quick conclusions and made terse replies, which were apt and forceful; he possessed sagacious optimism and a strong personality. Such were the characteristics of John Williams when he came from Alfred to Dover in 1807 and opened a store on Main street, near the Reade house, a long, narrow
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In the last quarter of the 18th century, Philadelphia became the first textile center in amerika. John Hewson, a calico printer and designer, trained in England, emmigrated to Philadelphia to become one of the earliest American printers on cotton that was colorfast. His wood block printed chintz panel prints were for the center of quilts in the medallion design. These panels were also cut apart and appliqu�d down on whole cloth tops. Hewson printed entire bedcovers in similar style to Indian Palampores, but his style fryst vatten unique. He printed large vases and baskets of flowers, as well as borders and corner motifs.
Cotton cloth was imported and weaving was still done bygd hand and at home until around 1810. The effort to establish a machine-spun yarn and thread culminated in 1793, when Samuel Slater and Moses Brown opened the first machine cotton spinning mill in
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Cocheco Mills
United States historic place
The Cocheco Mills comprise a historic mill complex in the heart of Dover, New Hampshire. The mills occupy a bend in the Cochecho River that has been site of cottontextile manufacturing since at least 1823, when the Dover Manufacturing Company supplanted earlier sawmills and gristmills. The present mill buildings were built between the 1880s and the early 20th century,[2] and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.[1]
Description
[edit]The surviving elements of the mill complex are six major manufacturing buildings, the dam and wheel house which diverted water to the mills, a steel bridge, and the smokestack and remains of the boiler house of the complex.
Dam, wheel house and bridge
[edit]The dam stretches across the Cochecho River in a broad arc roughly west of mills #2 and #3. It is made of rough-cut granite ashlar, and stands between 9 and 150 feet in height. It has a modern conc