Wamsutta Mills
Wamsutta Company, also known as Wamsutta Mills, was located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, a port known for its whaling ships. The company was named for Wamsutta, the son of an Native American chief who negotiated an early alliance with the English settlers of the Plymouth Colony in the 17th century.
History
Wamsutta Company's textile mill was founded by Thomas Bennett, Jr. on the banks of the Acushnet River in 1846 and opened in 1848. It was the first of many textile mills that gradually came to supplant whaling as the principal employer in New Bedford. Other mills in the area soon sprang up. By the 1870s, cotton textile manufacture was more important to the local economy than whaling.
A second mill, 200 feet (61 m) long, was built in 1855. The third mill, a duplicate of the second, was built in 1860. By 1883, the Wamsutta Co. had six mills and produced 26 million yards of cotton cloth annually.[1]
By 1892, with a total of seven mills, Wamsutta was the largest cotton weaving plant in the world. In 1897 Wamsutta was operating 4450 looms and employing 2100 workers.
- Wamsutta Mill was named after a Massasoit chief, who C. 1600s, signed a deed to transfer the Acushnet area to settlers. The meaning of the name translates to Loving Heart. The mill was incorporated by Massachusetts’ legislature in 1846. The Wamsutta Mill used natural fibers of cotton and converted them into cloth by a process that includes spinning, stretching, and weaving for over a century. It was the first mill of its kind in the city of New Bedford.
By mid 1847 Thomas Bennett, Jr. raised monies $160,000 for the mill. This was approximately half of what the business was estimated to need but the plan was put into motion at any rate. The funding that he raised had a stipulation from one of the investors; a one Joseph Grinnell of First National Bank stipulated that the mill be located in New Bedford, MA, as opposed to the originally intended idea of being located in the state of Georgia. The first meeting of the stockholders was held in 1847 and it was then that Joseph Grinnell was elected as the chairman and Thomas Bennett, Jr. the secretary. Mr. Bennett also served as the Superintendant of the Wamsutta Mill from its incorporation date of 1846 until 1874. The mill had to create housing for the workers and, though it was incorporated in the year 1846, it could not be outfitted with spindles until the fall of 1848. It started off with 10,000 spindles even with there being room for 15,000. Soon, business began to boom. Wamsutta Mill number two was built in 1855. Along with these progresses came a change over from whale oil to gas for illumination. A third was built in 1860-1861 outfitted in 1862 and opened in 1865; the delay was due to the Civil War and labor and product shortages. By 1868 the capitalization of the company jumped to $2,000,000 and a fourth bigger mill was built. Thomas Bennett, Jr. retired in the year 1874. However, that did not stop the mill from thriving. Come 1875 capital reached $2,500,000, they were shipping to Australia, and along came mill number 5. It was shortly after this time that the finer fabric percale was made at Wamsutta. New Bedford is known to be the first city in the America to make fine cotton. In 1880, the Wamsutta Mill took out the old Whitin spindles and added 20,000 Rabeth spindles, which were made in Pawtucket by the Fales and Jenks Machine Company. And in 1882 the building of mill number 6 was begun. Joseph Grinnell remained on until 1885 when he passed away at the age of 96; and Andrew G. Pierce, William Wallace Crapo, Oliver Prescott, and Charles F. Broughton successively took his place. By 1917 plans were in the works for this massive mill to receive a modernization overhaul. Machinery was upgraded and replaced and the steam power was replaced with electric. A new focus was directed toward fine sheets and pillowcases complete with advertizing campaign geared towards the public. Prior to the Great Depression, in the 1920s, the city of New Bedford had their own depression. During this time, 4 of the cities factories closed down. The following decade almost two-dozen closed. Wamsutta, however, increased it’s sales in 1925 while others were liquidating and closing. And, by 1935 their sheets were henceforth known as Supercale instead of Pericale. Additionally, they manufactured a new product called Lustercale that resembled silk but, in fact, was made of cotton. They also created the perfect weave for sails on sailing ships. Furthermore, because of the wars, they created tailored their products for hot air balloons, gas mask fabric, military uniforms, and supplies. Many other fabric types were created for many other purposes and to this day Wamsutta remains a household name for fabrics.
Hough, Henry Beetle. Wamsutta of New Bedford 1846-1946. The Vineyard Gazette, ed. New Bedford: William E. Rudge’s Sons, Wamsutta Mills, 1946. Print.
Recent
In modern times, Wamsutta is a brand name of Springs Global US, Inc., a textile conglomerate headquartered in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
In 2004, the historic Wamustta Mills complex in Massachusetts was slated for redevelopment according to officials of New Bedford. The renovation will also include a 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) museum featuring items such as old mill equipment and garments created at the mills.
A ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the initiation of the renovation of the mill was held on November 8, 2006.