A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is a community that developed around one or more textile or other industrial mills, where the local economy centered on mill production and company owners typically provided housing, stores, schools, and other services to support workers and their families. Emerging prominently during the early 19th-century Industrial Revolution, mill towns harnessed water power from rivers to mechanize textile manufacturing, initially concentrating in New England before expanding southward, where they eclipsed northern production by the 1920s through lower labor costs and abundant resources. These towns featured a paternalistic social structure, with mill corporations exerting broad influence over daily life to ensure labor stability and productivity, fostering economic booms that built infrastructure but also vulnerability to market fluctuations, technological changes, and eventual deindustrialization.
Europe
Italy
thumb|Crespi d'Adda (Italy)
- Crespi d'Adda, UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Nuovo quartiere operaio in Schio
- Villaggio Leumann a Collegno
- Villaggio Frua in Saronno
- Villaggio operaio della Filatura in Tollegno
Poland
thumb|Żyrardów – winter panorama of main square
Żyrardów
The town grew out of a textile factory founded in 1833 by the sons of Feliks Lubienski, who owned the land where it was built. They brought in a specialist from France and his newly designed machines. He was French inventor, Philippe de Girard from Lourmarin. He became a director of the firm. The factory town developed during the 19th century into a significant textile mill town in Poland.
In honour of Girard, 'Ruda Guzowska' as the original estate was called, was renamed Żyrardów, a toponym derived of the polonised spelling of Girard's name.
Most of Żyrardów's monuments are located in the manufacturing area which dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is widely believed that Żyrardów's textile settlement is the only entire urban industrial complex from the 19th-century to be preserved in Europe.
Russian Empire
- Bogorodsk-Glukhovo factory
- Nikolskoye, Vladimir Governorate
United Kingdom
thumb|right|East Mill in Derbyshire, UK
In the United Kingdom, the term "mill town" usually refers to the 19th-century textile manufacturing towns of northern England and the Scottish Lowlands, particularly those in Lancashire (cotton) and Yorkshire (wool).
Some former mill towns have a symbol of the textile industry in their town badge. Some towns may have statues dedicated to textile workers (e.g. Colne) or have a symbol in the badge of local schools (e.g. Ossett School).
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! style="background-color: #AAAAFF" width=20% | County
! style="background-color: #AAAAFF"| Towns
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|Cheshire mill towns||
Congleton, Crewe, Macclesfield
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|Derbyshire mill towns||
Glossop, Hadfield, New Mills
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|Greater Manchester mill towns||
Ashton-under-Lyne, Bolton, Bury, Chadderton, Failsworth, Heywood, Hyde, Lees, Leigh, Manchester, Middleton, Oldham, Radcliffe, Ramsbottom, Reddish, Rochdale, Royton, Shaw and Crompton, Stalybridge, Stockport, Wigan
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|Lancashire mill towns||
Accrington, Bacup, Barnoldswick, Blackburn, Burnley, Calder Vale, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Nelson, Oakenclough, Padiham, Preston for others see table below.
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|Yorkshire mill towns||
Batley, Bingley, Bradford, Brighouse, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Elland, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Keighley, Morley, Mytholmroyd, Ossett, Pudsey, Shipley, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden, Yeadon
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The list above includes some towns where textiles was not the predominant industry. For example, mining was a key industry in Wigan and Leigh in Greater Manchester, and in Ossett in Yorkshire.
<div style="font-size: 95%">
{| class="wikitable"
|+Spindleage of some large mill towns in and around Greater Manchester between 1830 and 1962
|-
!Date!!1883!!1893!!1903!!1913!!1923!!1926!!1933!!1944!!1953!!1962
|-
|Accrington||590||438||467||660||191||718||469||287||152||92
|-
|Ashton||1,574||1,731||1,781||1,955||1898||1,144||644||633||182
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|Blackburn||1,671||1,398||1,321||1,280||1,224||1,071||672||451||309||103
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|Bolton||4,086||4,770||5,457||6,797||7,371||7,842||7,507||6,204||4,886||1,772
|-
|Burnley||1,126||734||667||563||538||507||240||182||144||14
|-
|Bury||875||899||833||955||1050||1000||745||630||524||268
|-
|Chorley||552||527||541||856||838||837||739||491||397||122
|-
|Farnworth||557||779||966||1,485||1,478||1,484||1,344||1,237||1,104||162
|-
|Glossop||1,106||1,158||968||882||821||839||524||204||154||10
|-
|Heywood||660||887||836||1,070||1,100||1,096||864||545||533||68
|-
|Hyde||590||499||533||741||793||696||475||366||337||58
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|Leigh||1,337||1,514||1,679||2,445||2,761||2,925||2,891||2,615||2,336||548
|-
|Manchester||2,445||2,353,||2,225||3,703||3,307||3,439||3,417||2,974||1,934||271
|-
|Middleton||498||494||645||1,278||1,268||1,252||1,041||1,193||923||161
|-
|Mossley||1,153||1,217||1,033||1,288||1,297||1,289||371||264||256||-
|-
|Oldham||9,311||11,159||12,230||16,909||17,231||17,669||13,732||8,948||7,621||2,478
|-
|Preston||2,146||1,883||2,074||2,161||1,997||1,965||1,592||1,146||1,024||278
|-
|Rochdale||1,627||1,835||2,422||3,645||3,749||3,793||3,539||2,459||1,936||983
|-
|Stalybridge||1,083||1,157||1,027||1,236||1,104||1,103||801||483||426||122
|-
|Stockport||1,601||1,742||1,568||2,266||2,382||1,924||1,427||1,141||154
|-
|Wigan||864||775||888||1,085||1,123||1,141||922||681||575||352
|-
|}
In thousands of spindles.</div>
On his tour of northern England in 1849, Scottish publisher Angus Reach said:
The term mill town was revived in the British media during the debate over relations between whites and Asians in the aftermath of riots in several mill towns in the early 2000s, including the 2001 Oldham and Bradford riots. The term conveniently groups together towns on both sides of the Pennines that suffer from sometimes significant racial tension. Some mill towns in northern England are known today as "mill and mosque towns" because of the large number of British Pakistani Muslims who live there. After the Second World War, thousands of migrants from both the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent settled in the mill towns to fill the labour shortage in the industry; they moved to traditional working-class areas whilst the white working-class moved out to the newly built estates after the war.
North America
<!-- This section is linked from Millbury, Massachusetts --> United States
New England and Northeast
thumb|[[Peabody, Massachusetts A. C. Lawrence Leather Co. a factory town .]]
thumb|right|The [[Androscoggin River at Berlin, New Hampshire]]
Beginning with Samuel Slater and technological information smuggled out of England by Francis Cabot Lowell, large mills were established in New England in the early to mid-19th century. Mill towns, sometimes planned, built and owned as company towns, grew in the shadow of the industries. The region became a manufacturing powerhouse along rivers like the Housatonic, Quinebaug, Shetucket, Blackstone, Merrimack, Nashua, Cocheco, Saco, Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Winooski.
In the 20th century, alternatives to water power were developed, and it became more profitable for companies to manufacture textiles in southern states where cotton was grown and winters did not require significant heating costs. Finally, the Great Depression acted as a catalyst that sent several struggling New England firms into bankruptcy.
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! style="background-color: #AAAAFF" width=20% | State
! style="background-color: #AAAAFF"| Towns
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| Connecticut mill towns ||
Ansonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Collinsville, Danbury, Derby, East Windsor, Enfield, Glastonbury, Hartford, Killingly, Madison, Manchester, Meriden, Middletown, Milford, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Norwich, Putnam, Sandy Hook, Seymour, Shelton, Torrington, Vernon, Waterbury, Willimantic, Winchester, Windham, Windsor Locks
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| Maine mill towns ||
Anson, Auburn, Augusta, Baileyville, Biddeford, Brunswick, Chisholm, Corinna, Lewiston, Lincoln, Lisbon Falls, Livermore Falls, Millinocket, Milo, Monmouth, Newport, Old Town, Orono, Pittsfield, Portland, Rumford, Saco, Sanford, Skowhegan, Waterville, Westbrook, Wilton
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| Massachusetts mill towns ||
Adams, Amesbury, Athol, Attleboro, Boston, Chicopee, Clinton, Dalton, Dedham, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Grafton, Greenfield, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopesdale, Hudson, Lawrence, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn, Maynard, Medford, Merrimac, Methuen, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, North Adams, North Andover, Northbridge, Orange, Palmer, Peabody, Pittsfield, Rowley, Russell, Southbridge, Springfield, Taunton, Uxbridge, Waltham, Ware, Webster, Westborough, Winchendon, Worcester
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| New Hampshire mill towns ||
Belmont, Berlin, Claremont, Concord, Dover, East Rochester, Franklin, Gonic, Gorham, Greenville, Groveton, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Keene, Laconia, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lincoln, Manchester, Milford, Milton, Nashua, Newmarket, Newport, Penacook, Pittsfield, Rochester, Rollinsford, Somersworth, Suncook, Tilton, Troy, Wilton
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| New Jersey mill towns ||
Allaire, Allentown, Bernards, Boonton, Butler, Camden, Chester, Clinton, Cranbury, Cranford, Dover, Eatontown, Elizabeth, Freehold, Griggstown, Helmetta, Hillsborough, Imlaystown, Jamesburg, Kearny, Kingston, Little Falls, Manville, Medford, Millhurst, Milltown, Millville, New Brunswick, Newark, Orange, Paterson, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Prallsville, Rahway, Raritan, Roselle Park, Sayreville, Scobeyville, Smithville, South Brunswick, Stillwater, Tinton Falls, Trenton, Walnford, Wharton, Woodbridge
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| New York mill towns ||
Albany, Amsterdam, Aurora-on-Cayuga, Beacon, Belmont, Bloomvale, Buffalo, Clinton, Corning, Dumbo, Gardiner, Ithaca, Kingston, Little Falls, Marlboro, Mechanicville, Middletown, Montgomery, New Berlin, New York Mills, Newburgh, Newcomb, Niles, Philmont, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Rome, Roslyn, Saddle Rock, Schenectady, Schuylerville, Sleepy Hollow, Stony Brook, Sunset Park, Syracuse, Troy, Utica, Victory, Water Mill
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| Rhode Island mill towns ||
Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Coventry, Cumberland, Lincoln, Pawtucket, Providence, Slatersville, Valley Falls, West Warwick, Westerly, Woonsocket
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| Vermont mill towns ||
Bellows Falls, Bethel, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Burlington, Ludlow, Newport, Springfield, Vergennes, Winooski
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<gallery widths=250 heights=250>
File:Assawaga Mill postcard.jpg|Assawaga Mill, Dayville, CT, in 1909
File:American Thread Co. Mill.jpg|American Thread Co. Mill, Willimantic, CT, c. 1910
File:Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mills.jpg|Hollingsworth & Whitney Paper Mill, Waterville, ME, c. 1920
File:Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME.jpg|Cumberland Mills, Westbrook, ME, c. 1902
File:Grade crossing arch at Mill Street - postcard.jpg|Mill Street, Attleboro, MA, in 1908
File:Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA.jpg|Arlington Mills, Lawrence, MA, in 1907
File:Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA.jpg|Merrimack Falls, Lawrence, MA, c. 1905
File:Noon Hour at Amoskeag Mills.jpg|Amoskeag Mills, Manchester, NH, c. 1912
File:Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH.jpg|Jackson Mills, Nashua, NH, in 1907
File:Alice Mills Rubber Mfg. Plant.jpg|Alice Mills, Woonsocket, RI, in 1911
File:Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT.jpg|Colchester Mills, Winooski, VT, in 1907
</gallery>
Midwest
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| Wisconsin mill towns ||
Biron (Biron Mill)
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South
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| Alabama mill towns ||
Fairfax (Fairfax Mill and Fair View Mill), Lanett (Lanett Mill), Langdale (Langdale Mill), Sylacauga (Avondale Mill), Opelika (Opelika Mill), River View (Riverdale Mill), Shawmut (Shawmut Mill), Valley (Carter/Lanier Mill)
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| Arkansas mill towns ||
Amity, Beirne, Calion, Crossett, Delight, Dierks, Glenwood, Jones Mill, Malvern, Mountain Pine
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|Georgia mill towns||
Bibb City, Cabbagetown, Chicopee, Hogansville, New Holland, New Manchester
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|Maryland mill towns ||
Ellicott City, Jerusalem, Oella, Owings Mills, Savage
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| North Carolina mill towns ||
Alamance, Altamahaw, Bellemont, Burlington, Bynum, Canton, Caroleen, Carolina, Carrboro, Cliffside, Coleridge, Concord, Cooleemee, Cramerton, Drexel, Eden, Edgemont (East Durham), Enka, Falls, Franklinville, Glen Raven, Glencoe, Hanes, Haw River, Henrietta, High Falls, High Shoals, Hildebran, Hope Mills, Kannapolis, Long Shoals, Mayodan, McAdenville, Mooresville, Mount Holly, Oakdale, Ramseur, Rhodhiss, Riegelwood, Roanoke Rapids, Sawmills, Saxapahaw, Spencer Mountain, Swepsonville, West Durham, West Hillsborough
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| South Carolina mill towns ||
Cateechee, Central, Cherokee Falls, Columbia (Olympia and Granby Mills), Fort Mill, Glendale, Graniteville, Great Falls, Inman, Joanna, La France, Lockhart, Lyman, Newry, Pacolet Mills, Pelzer, Piedmont, Slater-Marietta, Startex, Ware Shoals, Watts Mills, Whitmire, Judson, Dunean, Park Place, City View, Sans Souci
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<gallery widths=250 heights=185>
File:ChadwickMills.jpg|Model Mill Settlement, Chadwick Mills, Charlotte, N.C. Published c. 1905–1915
File:WhiteOakMills.jpg|White Oak Cotton Mills, Greensboro, N.C. c. 1914
File:Wareshoalsmill.jpg|Aerial view of Ware Shoals Mill
</gallery>
Sawmill towns
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! style="background-color: #AAAAFF"| Towns
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|Illinois ||Carrier Mills, Harrisburg
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|Oregon ||Roseburg
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|Washington
|Longview
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|Wisconsin ||Eau Claire
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South America
Colombia
- San José de Suaita
See also
- Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
- Industrial district
- Old Great Falls Historic District, Paterson, NJ