Pioneered Two Textile Mills
Luke became an early American industrial pioneer and the builder of two early textile mills. Luke Taft built a dam, and his first textile mill on the West River (Massachusetts), in 1824. This was the third woolen mill in Uxbridge, a very early US industrial center. Luke Taft was the son-in-law of Daniel Day, who had earlier established the first woolen mill in the Blackstone Valley, at Uxbridge, circa 1810. Luke Taft's first textile mill was located near the site of the now former Waucantuck Mill Complex site, a national historic site.
Luke Taft later built a second textile mill in 1833, on the Blackstone River at the site of the present day Stanley Woolen Mill. This mill was also known as the "Luke Taft Mill". Luke's son, Moses Taft, built a larger mill at this same site in 1852.
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